Kano state has retained the 36th edition of the 2018 annual Gen. Murtala Mohammed tournament popularly known as Ramat Cup.
In an entertaining encounter decided at the Kano Pillars stadium on Monday, Kano State defeated hard fighting Lagos State 2-1 to be crowned winner of the 36th edition of the Championship.
Kwara came third after their Kebbi state opponents were disqualified.
Kano state carted away the Cup with a cash prize of N150, 000 while the first runner up Lagos went home with N100, 000 and third placed Kwara got N50, 000.
Presenting the trophy to the winners, Kano state Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje commended YSFON for its leading role in grassroots football development in the country.
High point of the final was a 4×100 relay race at half time which was won by Kaduna State followed by Rivers and Nasarawa, respectively.
Kano State U16 team will represent Nigeria in the Norway youth championship later in the year.
Speaking shortly after the finals, YSFON President, Nasiru Gawuna, described it as part of the Federation’s activity to catch them young.
He commended all participating states for exhibiting good spirits of sportsmanship within and outside the filled of play.
The final match was witnessed by Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje, his deputy, Prof. Hafizu Abubakar, representative of Minister of Sports, Dr. Are Ademola, President of YSFON, Nasiru Gawuna and heads of security agencies in the state.
NAN reports that this year’s edition recorded a participation of 23 states, which is the highest in recent time. (NAN)
