Kano State has emerged winners in an 8-team, World Polio Day, National Para Soccer Tournament 2020, the 8th in the series.
In the final match, held at Old Parade Ground, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, the Kano team fought hard to whip Nasarawa 1-0 to defend the title they also won last year.
Elsewhere, Katsina and Yobe played out a bare draw in losers match from which the Katsina team emerged 1-2 winners after penalty shootouts.
Kano was placed in group A alongside Nasarawa, Sokoto and Lagos States. In group B, Katsina was placed with Bauchi, Yobe and Zamfara States.
The tournament kicked off on Wednesday 21 October with Kano pipping Nasarawa 2-0, while Katsina emerged 3-2 winners in a match up against Yobe, same day.
Nasarawa bounced from an earlier defeat to Kano on the 2nd day of the tournament to whitewash Lagos 9-0. Yobe got the better of Zamfara to thrash them 6-2. Lagos, in their second game recovered from the earlier mauling by Nasarawa to defeat Sokoto 2-0.
The third day got even interesting with Zamfara playing out a 1-1 draw with Bauchi. Nasarawa continued their walloping spree with a whopping 6-0 win over Sokoto, Bauchi and Yobe shared spoils in a 1-1 draw, Kano continued their dominance with another thrashing 6-1 of Lagos, whereas Katsina beated Zamfara 3-1 on the final day of the group stage.
In group A, Kano topped the group with 9 points while Nasarawa placed 2nd with 6 points after falling to Kano. Lagos came 3rd with just 1 win while Sokoto, with no single win placed at bottom of the table.
Group B had Katsina placed top of the table with 9 points. Yobe emerged 2nd with 4 points. Bauchi came 3rd with 2 points while Zamfara at rock bottom had just 1 point.
By end of the group stage, the table stood thus:
Group A: Kano 9, Nasarawa 6, Lagos 3, Sokoto 0
Group B: Katsina 9, Yobe 4, Bauchi 2, Zamfara 1
In semi final, Kano, being the winner of group A played out a 4-2 with 2nd placed group B, Yobe. Nasarawa fought hard to defeat Katsina 3-2 to set up a crunchy final with Kano who emerged overall winner.
President of the Para-soccer Federation of Nigeria, Misbau Lawal Didi had earlier appealed to the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to include the sport in the 2020 National Sports Festival (NSF).
Didi said including Para-soccer sporting event in the 20th NSF billed for Edo would tremendously help development of the game.
“We are appealing to the Ministry to include para-soccer in the list of events to feature at the NSF.
“We need to encourage people with disabilities who are committed to the game and also want to promote the image of this country through sports activities.
“We want to encourage people with disabilities to enjoy the privilege of being part of the NSF.
“So, we pray and ask the Ministry to please include Para-soccer in the NSF,” he said.