Higher Institutions Football League (HiFL) is an annual football competition for higher education institutions in Nigeria. The league is open to all member universities of the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA), and all games except the Final Four are played in the campuses of participating schools. Winners of the league are scheduled to represent Nigeria at the Summer Universiade of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) games. HiFL is the football franchise of Higher Institutions Sports League (HiSL), an asset created and managed by PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing Limited.
History HiFL, established in 2017, was launched in February 2018 as the premier franchise of the Higher Institutions Sports League (HiSL). Its first season featured an inaugural 16 universities, eight from the South (Coastal Conference) and eight from the North (Sahel Conference). The participating teams for the maiden edition were recommended by the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA), based on recent performances in the NUGA games and government endowment. The University of Agriculture, Makurdi (UAM) Tillers emerged as the maiden winners after defeating the University of Calabar Malabites 5–4 on penalties.
The 2019 season began in late April with a qualifying round played by over 40 universities across different zones. The surviving teams joined the top four teams from the 2018 season to the final quota of 32. The 32 teams were then drawn into eight groups of four teams, and played in a round-robin system. The eight group winners (including the seeded teams from the previous year's Super Four – UAM Tillers, UNICAL Malabites, OAU Giants and UNILORIN Warriors) and eight runners-up proceeded to the knockout phase that culminated with the Super Four Finals in late October at Lagos.
Presently, the competition is only open to the male football teams of the participating universities, with the female teams to be added in subsequent editions.
Administrative structure The executive management board is tasked with the league's management in conjunction with NUGA in overseeing, enforcing and adjudicating the regulations of the competition.
The Main Organising Committee (MOC) is responsible for the operational execution and day-to-day management of the league.
Local organising committees (LOC) help organize matches on behalf of participating schools in the HiFL competition and/or qualifiers, and in close cooperation with the organizers. The minimum composition of an HiFL LOC includes representatives of the school's sports management, students’ union/association/council or representatives of the association, security services, medical services and the school's press officer.
Regulations The HiFL regulations are the statute as adopted by the Executive Management Board (EMB) that contain the basic principles and detailed rules regarding the governance of the HiFL games and competition.
In particular, they specify, based on the fundamental structure, general principles regarding the internal organisation of the MOC, LOC and EMB. They further specify the general principles regarding the duties, powers and responsibilities of certain bodies, units and other entities of HiFL, as well as of the members of those bodies.
The regulations clearly define best practices regarding the execution of the competition in its entirety.
Format The Higher Institutions Football League begins with a return-leg elimination of 16 teams. However, in the 2019 season it had 32 teams playing in a round-robin group stage. The participating universities are member institutions of NUGA. The 32 teams are then drawn into eight groups of four teams, and play in a round-robin system. The eight group winners (including the seeded teams from the previous year's Super Four) and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase.
For this stage, the winning team from one group plays against the runners-up from another group, in the same geographical distribution – Coastal or Sahel. This condition remains through the quarter-final and semi-final until the Super Four, where the winners from inter-conference matches battle to determine who lifts the trophy.
Generally, each school has a registration pool of 30 individuals: 26 players and four officials. However, the school's game-day team is represented by a squad of 22 individuals: 18 players and four officials. These are the coach, assistant coach, team manager, and medical officer.
The tournament uses the away goals rule: if the aggregate score of the two games is tied, then the team who scores more goals at their opponent's stadium advances.
Brand and emblem The HiFL icon is based on three distinct objects:
Graduation cap: The angular shape reflects a graduation cap or "mortarboard". This helps to visually restate the mission of HiFL to support the passion of youths, especially those in academia. Football: The geometric pattern on the logo is inspired by those on a football. Ankara: The icon gains its dynamic and lively color from the vibrant hues of the African wax print popularly called "Ankara". This emphasizes the essence and ownership of the brand as African.
Trophy and medals
The HiFL Champions Cup, also known as the Ultimate trophy, is awarded at the end of each season to the team that wins the HiFL Competition. The trophy remains in HiFL's keeping and ownership at all times. A full-size replica trophy is awarded to each winner of the competition. In the 2019 season, the UAM Tillers enjoyed the distinction of wearing the logo of the league set on a gold background for the duration of the 2019 season. The UNICAL Malabites will enjoy this distinction as the current league winners.
A club that wins three consecutive times or five times overall will receive a multiple-winner badge.
Theme song The official HiFL theme song, "Game Changers", was written by Rocketshop, one of the project's commercial partners and recorded by pop star Kola Soul in May 2018. It was officially released as part of the build-up towards the 2018 HiFL season in a cover song competition, #TheHiFLChallenge, to much fanfare.
The anthem is played before every HiFL game at a stadium hosting such an event, and also before and after every television broadcast of a HiFL game.
Conferences The conferences for HiFL are structured along Nigeria's regional lines: the North and the South.
The North, called the Sahel Conference, includes higher institutions from states such as Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, F.C.T – Abuja, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.
The South, known as the Coastal Conference, includes higher institutions from states such as Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Rivers.
2018 season summary In the 2018 season, the teams were divided into two groups of four across two conferences: Coastal (South) and Sahel (North). They played in return leg elimination style across four stages: preliminaries, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and Final Four, where the two winners from each of the conferences battle for the prize.
Qualification for the 2018 HiFL competition was open to all member universities of NUGA. However, the participating universities for the maiden edition were selected based on strong sporting/academic parameters and government endowment.
The following table lists the participating schools by conference and in alphabetical order.
Coastal Conference Institution Location Nickname ColoursDelta State University, AbrakaDelta StateDELSU TitansSky blue and whiteObafemi Awolowo University, Ile-IfeOsun StateOAU GiantsBlue and yellowUniversity of BeninEdo StateUNIBEN RoyalsPurple and goldUniversity of CalabarCross River StateUNICAL MalabitesBlue and redUniversity of IbadanOyo StateUI PioneersIndigo (blue) and goldUniversity of LagosLagos StateUNILAG MarinesGold and puceUniversity of Nigeria, NsukkaEnugu StateUNN LionsGreen and whiteUniversity of Port HarcourtRivers StateUNIPORT SharksBlue and white
Sahel Conference Institution Location Nickname ColoursAbubakar Tafawa Balewa UniversityBauchi StateATBU BraveheartsBlue and greenAhmadu Bello University (ABU)Kaduna StateABU NoblesSky blue, white and greenBayero University, KanoKano StateBUK StallionsSky blue, black and whiteUniversity of Agriculture, MakurdiBenue StateUAM TillersGreen, red and goldUniversity of IlorinKwara StateUNIILORIN WarriorsPurple, green, white and goldUniversity of JosPlateau StateUNIJOS HighlandersWhite, green, blue, brown and goldUniversity of MaiduguriBorno StateUNIMAID Desert WarriorsBlue and whiteUsmanu Danfodiyo University, SokotoSokoto StateUDU SultansGreen and purple
The 2018 HiFL season was marked by top quality and attacking football, excellent players and a positive general football philosophy. The teams' objectives were to score and win matches instead of trying not to lose or concede. This led to a glut of goals, 63 in total, at an impressive average of 2.1 goals per match.
The tournament also witnessed the rise and development of teams such as DELSU Titans and UDU Sultans, who efficiently challenged the more established teams. Many matches were end-to-end affairs, and a lot of games were not decided until the very end.
Moreover, the league was an extremely balanced affair. Most of the matches in the competition went down to the wire, and the odd case penalties separated the teams, like in the final where UAM Tillers defeated UNICAL Malabites 5-4 to be crowned champions.
2018 season duration The 2018 season ran from 28 July 2018 to 3 November 2018.
Tournament The teams are divided into groups of eight across two conferences: Coastal (South) and Sahel (North).
Preliminaries: The eight teams across each pool are further divided into groups A and B, giving Coastal A & B and Sahel A & B. The teams are paired off to play return-leg elimination games to determine the quarter-finalists. Quarter-finals: The winners after the first round square off for a chance to qualify to the next round. Semi-finals: The quarter-final winners pair off against the winners for a chance to play in the HiFL championship game. Final Four: The final and third place matches are held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
Hosting For the 2018 season of the competition, each of the participating institutions had the opportunity to host at least one game, after which they then travelled to play the corresponding fixture in the 'home' of their opponent to determine the winner of the series. This system was designed to ensure maximum participation and engagement for students across all the participating schools.
2018 HiFL Elite Awards The HiFL Elite Awards is an annual football award presented by Higher Institutions Football League (HiFL). It was first presented in 2018 as part of a series of events to commemorate the close of the inaugural season, to recognize and celebrate outstanding performers in the league.
HiFL Elite Player of the Year RankNameTeamWinnerEbuka David OdenigboUAM Tillers-Charles UfotUNICAL Malabites-Olumofe Seyi James OAU Giants -Ogunronbi Hawal UNILORIN Warriors
HiFL Elite Coach of the Year RankNameTeamWinnerPriscilla Mlumun VandeUAM Tillers-Moshood Jimoh OyefolarinUNICAL Malabites-Egbunu Olimene A. COAU Giants -Isiaka GambariUNILORIN Warriors
HiFL Elite Goalkeeper of the Year RankNameTeamWinnerEbire AbiodunOAU Giants-Okorie OkechukwuUNICAL Malabites-Terungwa ToradzaUAM Tillers-Abdulhakeem YahayaUNILORIN Warriors
HiFL Elite Goal of the Year RankNameTeamWinnerAgbomeji Abdul Wahab OmotayoLASU Blazzers-Okorie OkechukwuUNICAL Malabites-Abata TerkumaUAM Tillers-Abdulhakeem YahayaUNILORIN Warriors
HiFL Elite Host of the Year