The Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, has selected five centres to host the inaugural edition of the youth league tournament slated to kick off in February 2024.
The NPFL U-17 Youth League organising committee disclosed this in a letter signed by its chairman, Emeka Inyama.
Lafia, Ekiti, Awka, Kaduna and Asaba were listed as the host cities for the developmental league.
The competition kick-starts on February 1st, 2024 across all venues.
Twenty teams will participate in the inaugural edition of the league, with five groups comprising four teams each.
The winner from each group will qualify for the championship playoff, where they will play another round-robin format in a centre to be decided later by the organisers.
The group matches will last for three days, from February 1st to 3rd, 2024.
The championship play-off draw is scheduled for February 12th 2024, while the playoffs will be played from February 13th – 17th, 2024.
Group A from the Kaduna zone consists of Doma United, Gombe United, Kano Pillars and Katsina United.
Group B Lafia zone is made up of Kwara United, Lobi Stars, Niger Tornadoes and Plateau United.
Group C the Asaba Zone Akwa United, Bayelsa United, Bendel Insurance, Rivers United
Group D, which is the Southwest zone (Ekiti) comprises Remo Stars, Shooting Stars, Sporting Lagos and Sunshine Stars.
The final group E zone (Awka), which will witness the Oriental derbies, has Abia Warriors, Enyimba, Heartland and Rangers.
NPFL picks five centres as venue for inaugural U-17 league
