Tag: NPFL

One of the negative tactics covertly deployed by home teams to run down the clock and win matches is the gradual reduction in the number of balls available for play when the home side is leading.

The ball boys are instructed to hide away balls rather than keeping them to return for play when the one in use goes out.

But the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has now moved to stamp out this unsporting behaviour, dangling heavy sanctions on clubs that henceforth fails to carry out a reorientation of their Ball Boys to put a stop to the practice.

In a memo to clubs, Davidson Owumi, the Chief Operating Officer of the NPFL said the attention of the league has been drawn to the corruption of young boys into bad football practice.

“It has come to our attention, the unscrupulous and undisciplined behavior of ball boys on match days. The continuous attitude of ball boys hiding match balls when the game is still on and mostly in favour of the home team shall no longer be tolerated”.

Read Also: NPFL Round-Up: Gombe, Remo, Plateau record home wins

The memo reminded the clubs hierarchies that at no time during a match should there be less than ten match balls available to the teams.

“Note that at every point in time during an NPFL match, a minimum of not less than ten match balls should be available for use at all times”, the memo continued.

It said the practice constitutes misconduct under Rule C1.1 of the NPFL Framework and Rules, a breach of which may lead to appropriate sanctions against erring clubs.

“We urge you to take immediate steps to rectify this situation by carrying out orientation sessions for the Ball Boys to ensure that they understand and adhere to the rules.

“Failure to do so may result in penalties, including fines and points deductions as outlined in Rule C18 of the NPFL Framework and Rules”, the memo concluded.

The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) reigning champions, Enyimba suffered their first defeat of the season in the first game of their title defence following their 2-0 loss to Gombe United at the Pantami Stadium, Gombe in one of the Matchday Two games played yesterday.

Former El Kanemi Warriors and FC Ifeanyi Ubah attacker, Chijioke Alaekwe opened the scoring in the 43rd  minute for Gombe United before Ahmed Jimoh’s stoppage time goal put the icing on the cake for the Savannah Scorpions whom neighbour’s, Doma United had beaten Bayelsa United by the same scores a day earlier.

Read Also; 5G: Nigeria, others to account for 13% of global subscriptions

At the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, Akwa United extended their winless streak to two games after Sporting Lagos grabbed a famous goalless draw. It was the newly promoted side’s first topflight away point after they thrashed Gombe United 2-0 last Monday for their debut NPFL victory.

Niger Tornadoes secured their first win over Rivers United in four seasons after a 1-0 win at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna. Bashir Usman’s seven minute disputed penalty kick was enough to hand the Ikon Allah Boys their first win of the season.

Kwara United marked their return to the Kwara State Sports Complex, Ilorin with a 1-0 victory over Abia Warriors. Isaiah Ejeh’s strike in the stoppage time of the first half was what the Harmony Boys needed to grab the three available points.

At the Jos Road Stadium, Jos, Bernard Mundi’s 12th minute goal for Plateau United handed them three crucial points against Heartland FC.

At the Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne, Remo Stars recovered from a goal down to beat hard fighting Rangers International 2-1.

At the Lafia Township Stadium, Lobi Stars and Sunshine Stars produced a special second half performance to score five goals following a goalless first half.

The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, on Friday met with the leadership of the Nigerian Football Federation, NPFL Club Owners’ Association, as well as the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) to deliberate on key issues necessary for the development of the the NPFL and football in the country.

The meeting held in Abuja, as a follow-up to the minister’s earlier engagement with key football stakeholder groups in the nation some weeks ago, to chart a way forward for the development of the round leather game. He described the engagement as expedient due to the need to take intentional and strategic actions, especially on the operations of clubs and match officials, to ensure the football grows to an appreciable level of professional admiration. He decried the omission of Nigerian referees for AFCON 2023 duties as a sad reality and thus the need to look inwardly, and reorganize the state of football in the country.

“Officiating as an integral part of football that could either make or mar the development of the round leather game,” the Minister said. “Our football cannot be said to be developing, if our referees are excluded from international tournaments year in, year out. As a ministry we are concerned because this does not spell well for the reputation of the nation.”

Read Also: Man City want to begin Haaland contract talks

“This new season, the bitter experience from CAF (exclusion of Nigerian officials for AFCON) should be treated as a lesson to improve our conduct and operations,” he added. “Corruption and kickbacks must not be tolerated. We are likely in this sorry state more because of what had happened in the past, but it is incumbent on us to take action points from our deliberations and define the future of our game. We must put our house in order internally, before we focus on the external determinants of our reputation.”

In his address to the NPFL Club Owners Association, Senator Enoh stated that clubs have a responsibility to scale up their operation to a professional level, where the welfare and insurance of players, club licensing compliance, security, infrastructure, contract matters and others are treated in accordance to best practices.

“Club owners must also rally their supporters, and provide security to ensure the protection of referees. Most of the time, they feel threatened and work in danger,” he added.

Reacting president of the NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau stated that the Federation has made changes to enhance the performance of referees in the country and younger individuals are now being supported to take up officiating roles. He added that the NFF is developing a project in conjunction with CAF and FIFA, to enhance both the physical and education aspects of match officials in the country.

Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has moved to curb possible existence of drug abuse by players in the league.

NPFL Chairman, Gbenga Elegbeleye said random dope tests would be conducted in the weeks ahead following the acquisition of testing kits from the United Kingdom.

Elegbeleye was in Port Harcourt to lend support to Rivers United in their CAF Confederation Cup qualifier against Etoile Filante, alongside Alhaji  Ibrahim Gusau, President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

“We are committed to join the NFF, CAF, FIFA and the global campaign for eradication of illicit substance use in sports and this will commence soon with random tests of our players”, Elegbeleye told NPFL Media after the last gasp win by Rivers United to reach the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday at the Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium.

Read Also: Var error officials not selected for weekend games

“We are poised to arrest and stamp out illicit drugs use in the league where it exists and we plan to collaborate with relevant government agencies to launch an enlightenment campaign which will include displays on our MatchDay stadium boards and media channels”, declared the NPFL Chairman.

The NPFL boss was accompanied by the Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, who disclosed that a memo is going out to the NPFL Clubs with a notice of two weeks for the commencement of the tests.

Owumi disclosed that training on the operation of the kits is ongoing towards the commencement of random tests in another two weeks.

He charged medical teams of the clubs to begin sensitising their players on banned substances and how to avoid consumables that contain such substances.

MatchDay secret assessment of Referees is to make a return as the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) kickoff this Saturday in all the scheduled fixtures.

Secret Assessors are representatives of the league sent for covert check on performance of match Officials.

Davidson Owumi, the Chief Operating Officer of the NPFL announced the scheme as part of the league body’s steps towards improving officiating.

“Our Secret Assessors are going to play the dual role of providing useful intelligence on the conduct of Match Officials on the pitch and checking intimidation of Match Officials at any time in the course of their duty,” Owumi told NPFL Media.

“Part of our appraisals at the end of last season revealed that our Match Officials are often harassed, if not physically attacked in the changing rooms at half time. The intimidation consequently affects the performance of the Referees afterwards.

Read Also: New NPFL  season begins September 30

“We have therefore moved to ensure that the Referees would no longer carry out their duties under any form of duress, fear and pressure,” explained the NPFL COO.

He warned that the NPFL will come down hard on Clubs that breach the safety of Match Officials in line with extant rules of the League.

“The Framework and Rules will be strictly adhered to and sanctions will be enforced in line with the rules for violations especially as it relates to harassment of Match Officials,” Owumi continued.

“The performance of Referees in the domestic league affects their international ratings and the value of the League. We must therefore provide them safe conditions to carry out their duties,” he further noted.

In a related development, only provisional approval has been granted some clubs whose grounds were found not have completely met Facility requirements.

Kano Pillars, Bayelsa United, Heartland, Abia Warriors and Gombe United were allowed to play on their nominated home grounds while Lobi Stars and Niger Tornadoes are to play at alternate grounds.

While Tornadoes will play in Kaduna, Lobi Stars are to play in Lafia.

• ₦150m prize money for winner

Saturday, September 30 has been officially announced as the commencement date for the 2023/24 season of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).

In a letter dated Monday, September 25, Davidson Owumi, the Chief Operating Officer also notified the 20 participating Clubs that the champions of the season would receive ₦150m which is a 50% increase from last season’s prize money.

Another highlight of the letter to the clubs is the payment of start-off grants of a total of ₦200m to the 20 clubs.

“The 20 clubs will, as was done last season receive a take-off grant of Ten Million Naira (₦10,000,000) each to smoothen your operations as the season starts.

“We are therefore expecting the Clubs to as a matter of urgency forward their respective account details to the NPFL Secretariat for the transfer of the said amount as the season is set to commence on Saturday, September 30, 2023”, Owumi stated in the letter addressed to all Club Chairmen and General Managers.

Read Also: PSG owner tips Mbappe for Ballon d’Or

On the prize money, the letter read; “after due deliberations by the Chairman and our Strategic Partners, it was agreed that the Prize money, since that is what connotes the true value of the league, be reviewed upwards to ₦150million”.

The letter also addressed some of the Marketing concerns and assured the clubs that the NPFL Board would at all times take decisions and enter into contracts that serves the best interest of the league and the clubs.

“Be rest assured that we will at all times be guided by the very best interest of our league and by implication, the participating Clubs,” the COO explained while adding that discussions are still ongoing with a company that proposed a ten-year partnership for broadcast rights.

“We remain very hopeful that they or other prospective partners will show up since talks are still ongoing. Any success achieved, will enlarge the economic frontiers of the league and by extension the clubs as we progress,” he concluded.

The Board of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has announced a postponement of the scheduled kick-off for the 2023/24 season citing the need to have members focus on the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) which holds in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Davidson Owumi, the Chief Operating Officer explained that the League body yielded to representations from various stakeholders in reaching the decision.

Read Also: Ake goal for Man City against Fulham offside – Howard Webb

“We have everything set for the kick-off in Ibadan on Saturday but following representations from multiple stakeholders” Owumi  was quoted as saying  by the NPFL Media yesterday.

He said the postponement has been communicated to the clubs so they can stand down travel plans already made.

“Note therefore that there will be no flag-off game this Saturday, September 9 as originally planned”, the letter to the clubs read.

He said a new kick-off date will be communicated shortly.

Strategic partners to the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), GTI Asset Management & Trust Limited, have reassured all stakeholders and clubs involved in the upcoming 2023/2024 season that the winner of the elite league will receive a mouth-watering price money of N150m. The said amount is higher than the N100m given to the winner of the 2022/2023 season, Enyimba International FC of Aba by GTI.

Read Also: NPFL: Shooting to battle Plateau in traditional opener

GTI/TNFF Head of Media and Publicity, Andrew Ekejiuba, said that the company was stunned by erroneous claims that there was no definite figure for the price money in the upcoming season which is contrary to the development of the elite league.

“This is contrary to the earlier clarification from the GMD of GTI, Abubakar Lawal in late July that GTI has upgraded the price money to N150m from the earlier N100m given to the winner last season,” Ekejiuba said.

“The development of a league is a gradual process and not actualized overnight, so caution must be taken not to frustrate a thriving project that has the potential of taking NPFL to lofty heights. NPFL deserves every support it needs now to become a thriving transparent league.

Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) curtain raiser fixture in Ibadan will be the only game to hold on the opening day of the 2023/24 season.

Chairman of the NPFL, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye disclosed to the League Media outfit, the NPFL Media that the decision is consistent with the tradition established last season under the then Interim Management Committee (IMC).

Read Also: Manchester United rally from two goals down to beat 10-man forest

“Remember that last season opening day fixture was the match in Uyo between Akwa United and Bendel Insurance. The other nine fixtures were played the following weekend and it is one of the traditions we are bringing into the new league era,” remarked Elegbeleye who is now the 2nd  Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) by virtue of the football statutes.

Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) will be hosting former champions, Plateau United at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Adamasingba, Ibadan on Saturday, September 9.

The NPFL Boss also noted that the decision was also necessitated by the Super Eagles match on Sunday, September 10 in Uyo.

“Some of our clubs prefer playing their home matches on Sundays to attract a full house of fans and we cannot start from the first day to have scattered fixtures hence all other games apart from the curtain raiser have been moved to the following weekend,” he added.

In a related development, the match in Ibadan will be the first to be streamed on the new NPFLLive app on mobile phones and other devices.

Authorities of the Lekan Salami Stadium have completed the construction of camera stand with a safe staircase where the AI Camera crew and commentators will operate from.

Chairman of 3SC, Hon Babatunde Olaniyan revealed this in Abuja during the Annual General Meeting and Draw ceremony on Tuesday.

“We promised the broadcast team during their inspection visit that the camera stand staircase will be installed and our Governor approved funds for this because he wants the stadium to meet all requirements,” Olaniyan told NPFL Media.

The league purists are expecting a fantastic season that is devoid of acrimony and other underhand tactics and what should be done to make the coming season the most outstanding, writes TUNDE LIADI.

The race to dethrone reigning Nigeria Premier Football League Champions, Enyimba will start as from September 9th when the 2023-24 season starts with the opening fixture in Ibadan between Shooting Stars and 2017 winners, Plateau United at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan.

According to the Nigeria Premier League chairman, Gbenga Elegbeleye, only the game in Ibadan would be played in the opening weekend of the season with Super Eagles last qualifying game for the 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers against Sao Tome and Principe billed for Uyo on September 10th.

Read Also: Manchester United rally from two goals down to beat 10-man forest

Elegbeleye disclosed to the League Media outfit, the NPFL Media that the decision is consistent with the tradition established last season under the then Interim Management Committee (IMC).

“Remember that last season opening day fixture was the match in Uyo between Akwa United and Bendel Insurance. *The other nine fixtures were played the following weekend and it is one of the traditions we are bringing into the new league era”, remarked Elegbeleye who is now the 2nd  Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) by virtue of the football statutes.

With a few days to the commencement of the season, league stakeholders have started airing their views on what should be done to ensure that the season is seamlessly run without any major hitches.

Lobi Stars defender, Waheed Adebayo hailed the decision by the NPL to start streaming all the NPFL 2023-24 games and he appealed to the league body to ensure it is sustained.

He also enumerated the gains of consistent showing of the league games on the mobile App to the players and its impact on their career knowing that the league games would not be beamed to those within and outside the country at the same time.

“It is a very good idea if they can get it right. Streaming of our matches will put more eyes on the league,” Adebayo disclosed in a chat with Sports Radio, Brila FM.

“The players will benefit from it because people from within and outside the country will be able to watch us. It will be easy for players to travel out of the country for greener pastures. We don’t know how it will look like for now but I am hopeful of a good season.”

The newly named Enugu Rangers skipper, Chukwudi Nwaodu is delighted that the season is starting finally since early May when the regular season ended before the NPFL Championship Playoff in June and that he and his teammates are thrilled to showcase what they have practiced during preseason when the season eventually starts from next weekend.

“It will be an upward move to our career if the League matches are streamed consistently,” Nwaodu who was also skipper of Heartland FC under now Rangers coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu, stated.

“It will bring a very good vibes. We are ready for the start of the season. We have been training very well and have played series of friendly games.”

The head coach of Rivers United, Stanley Azunda Eguma rued his team’s inability to start the season’s preparations early enough but lauded the management decision to put games in place for their build up to the new season.

He said it is Rivers United’s resolve to ensure they win the league title at the end of the season or at least return to the CAF Champions League where he claimed they rightly belong.

“We started a bit late because by now we should have played series of games but unfortunately we were not able to do that,” Eguma confessed.

“Now that we have played some games, it is given us insight into the team and the characteristics the team possesses when it comes to match situations.”

The former national Under 23 coach opined that they are fully ready for the CAF Confederation Cup and that they are not afraid of their next round foes,

We are still preparing for the CAF Confederation Cup. We know that our opponents were involved in the first round and have qualified. They are fitter and have faced the toughness of the competition but it won’t deter us because we know what it takes to be in the competition and we are working toward that. We are working to give a good account of ourselves and to represent the country well.

Eguma noted that he is expecting a better season for Rivers United and the NPFL in general and that having Remo Stars as their first game of the season will motivate toward knowing what to expect from other teams with the Sky Blue Stars losing only on penalties to Medeama SC of Ghana in the CAF Champions League.

“We are expecting a better season. We were champions last two seasons. We tried too last season. It is our target to move further than we did and qualify for the CAF Champions League at the end of the season. I know it is difficult but it is very surmountable,” he added.

“Remo Stars tie is a good match for our preparations for the continent. We are up to the task. It is going to be an interesting game.”

Heartland FC head coach, Christian Obi on his part wants an uninterrupted season and one in which all the major stakeholders do their part to make the season better than it was last season.

He said the Naze Millionaires are eager to stage a return to the premier league having got relegated two seasons ago before they staged a return from the NNL last season.

“We are looking forward to positive outcomes in the league season. Heartland FC and all the clubs have taken part in another rigorous preseason activities and what we want is a season that will be rated better than last season,” Obi told NationSport. “We got all the good testimonies about how last season played out and we are hoping our return to the topflight will be rewarding. We have done our best to prepare and we expect improvement in all affairs of the league.”