Lobi Stars to play Red & Black Flames in Benue FA Cup final

Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) side Lobi Stars will on Thursday, take on Red and Black Flames in the final of the Benue FA Cup.

The 2023 edition of Nigeria's Federation Cup will see 72 teams: who either qualified as State cup champions or state runner-ups, participate in the national finals from April.

Benue will have the duo of Lobi Stars, and Red and Black Flames represent them.

Following the earlier postponement of Nigeria's 2023 gubernatorial and state house of assembly elections, Lobi will no longer play Red and Black Flames on Sunday, March 19.

The final scheduled to hold at the Mc-Carthy Stadium in Markurdi will rather hold on an earlier date: Thursday, March 16.

Lobi Stars: upon the completion of the Benue FA Cup, head into the 2023 Federation with the hopes of winning their second 

The Makurdi club won their first - and only - Federation Cup title in 2003 when they defeated now-defunct Sharks FC, 2-0 in the final. 

They came close to winning it again in 2005, 2012 and 2015 but lost on all three occasions to Enyimba, Heartland and Akwa United.

The Federation Cup final game will take place in May 2023. The winner of the Federation Cup will be one of Nigeria's two representatives in the 2023/24 season of the CAF Confederations Cup.