Thursday, June 4, 2026

The Sun Nigeria

HiFL 2021: Qualifiers for Round of 16 begins April 20

PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing Limited has released the schedule for the qualifying rounds of the 2021 Higher Institution Football League (HiFL) which kicks off on Monday. 

According to the schedule released the twenty-five schools participating in the qualifiers have been drawn into five centres across Zones A-E.

Winners and runners-up in each Zone will automatically qualify for the round of 16 and join the four teams that played in the Super four of the 2019 league season.  By the rules of the games, teams in the Super Four for a particular season, automatically qualify into the round of 16 for the following season.

The two best losers across the Zones will complete the final list of the 16 teams.

Speaking on the league, Director at  PACE Sports Mr Sola Fijabi said “everything is set for players and fans of collegiate sports to have an interesting season with the full support of all our sponsors and other stakeholders. However, we encourage all athletes and officials at the games to ensure that they adhere strictly to the Covid-19 preventive protocols for safer games.

In line with the schedule, games in Zone A will take place at the Bayero University, Kano while schools in Zone B would have their games played at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State. The centre for Zone C would be at the Lagos State University, Ojo, Zone D game will hold at the University of Benin, Edo State while teams in Zone E will do battle at the University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State.

Teams to play in Zone A are Bayero University, Kano; Kogi State University, Anyigba, Abubarkar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; the University of Maiduguri, Borno State and the Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Kano State.