The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NPFL

  • ‘NPFL player to receive $2,000 as monthly salary’

    ‘NPFL player to receive $2,000 as monthly salary’

    Sports Minister and Chairman National Sports Commission has sent a cheering news to players in the Globacom Premier League that they would soon start to smile home with monthly salary of

    N312,000.

    The Minister disclosed this during the 2013 Ministerial Platform held at the National Press Center, Radio House, Abuja where he vowed to ensure the Nigerian football elite league is fashioned to what is

    obtainable in South Africa where players and coaches receive fat salaries and bonuses which made their league very attractive.

    According to the Minister, he has charged the Hon. Nduka Irabor-led League Management Committee to work on the modalities that could totally transform the league and make it very attractive so that some of our players would no longer go to obscure countries to ply their football trade.

    He, however, praised the efforts of the League Management Committee so far since it took over the administration of the league in the country.

    “Before the coming of the League Management Committee it was very difficult for clubs to win matches away from home but now we have seen many clubs wining matches away from home. This could only improve if we all work hard to improve not only in football but in other sports as well. So, I am very happy with what the League Management Committee is doing.” the Minister disclosed.

  • Abandoned NPFL game strange — Tenger

    Abandoned NPFL game strange — Tenger

    Akwa United coach, Justin Tenger is confused over the referee’s decision to discontinue the side’s mid-week Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Matchday 16 encounter against Warri Wolves at the Uyo Township Stadium.

    The first half of the encounter ended smoothly with the home side up by two goals but the match officials failed to come back to the pitch to kick start the second half which culminated in the abandonment of the game.

    Unconfirmed report said some fans attacked the referees in their locker room. Tenger described the match officials’ behaviour as the strangest incident he has witnessed in his entire football career.

    “The incident is strange and unfortunate, I’ve never witnessed such strange occurrence in my entire career where referees will decide to discontinue a game after the first half has been concluded.

    “We were leading 2-0 in the first 45 minutes and had looked forward to scoring more goals in the second half because we’re clearly the dominant side in the encounter.

    “We were not even given the privilege to know why the match was discontinued. We’re waiting to know how the league body will judge the case. The faintest information we picked up was that the referee was hit by some fans in the dressing room.

    “We couldn’t establish which of the fans actually hit the referee. Of course, our fans have no business to attack the referee while their side are winning comfortably. This is a sad occurrence as we would have picked three points on the field of play to improve our fortune on the log,” said the former Niger Tornadoes coach to supersport.com.

    The Uyo-based side had 20 points prior to the discontinued NPFL Matchday 16 tie against Warri Wolves.

  • NPFL: Sharks manager assures on team performance

    NPFL: Sharks manager assures on team performance

    The Team Manager of Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt, Coach Gbenga Ogunbote, has assured their fans that the Blue Angels, as the club is fondly called, would definitely swim out of the relegation waters that had threatened it since the beginning of the season.

    In a Chat after the club handed highly rated Sunshine Stars of Akure their second consecutive defeat in Sunday’s Nigeria Professional Football League week 13 encounter played at the Sharks stadium, Port Harcourt, Ogunbote noted that while it is not yet time to celebrate, the club would improve its position on the table, pleading with the fans to rally round the team to ensure that this dream becomes a reality in no time.

    “It’s not yet allelluyah. We still want the people to rally around us so that the team leaves this tight position.

    “We are temporarily occupying the place, we would soon leave there. But we need to work harder, it also has to be a collective effort. Everybody must contribute his or her own quota to ensure that Sharks does very well,” he added.

    The former Sunshine gaffer also assures the fans that they would soon have their desired team.

    “I’m assuring the fans, by the special grace of God, that by the time we finish with our rebuilding, we would have a very solid team,” he said.

     

  • Heartland keeper is star of The Predictor’s XI

    Heartland keeper is star of The Predictor’s XI

    Heartland goalkeeper, Chinedu Udeh, is the star of my Matchday 12 team in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

    This 21-year-old custodian has put in massive shift for the Cup holders in recent games in the absent of first-choice Daniel Akpeyi and it was no surprise when he stood up to 3SC on Wednesday.

    In September 2010, Udeh was one of six trialists from neighbouring non-league side, Inter Enugu, who undergone test with the Heartland squad.

    Udeh’s performance had caught the attention of then Heartland head coach, Samson Siasia, who moved for him after the modest side defeated the NPFL club 3-2 in a friendly match.

    The ex-Inter Enugu goalkeeper had a one-man show against 3SC with his heroic saves, which helped Heartland keep a two-goal lead till the end of the tie to secure a first away win in more than four years.

    The quartet of Festus Umanah, Moses Awala, Manga Mohammed and Bobby Waziri make up the backline in a 4-4-2 formation.

    In midfield, Ichull Lordson, Chigozie Christopher, Onoriode Odah and Kalu Orji were my best performers in the middle on the day.

    In fact Orji looked more comfortable going forward from his left-back position which is why I moved him in front of Wikki left-back Waziri.

    On a matchday the big names went missing, the front two of Peter Ebimobowei and Ebere Odiche turned out the best strikers for me.

    Ebimobowei was a handful for Nasarawa United while Odiche’s precision and guile in front of goal against 3SC stood him out.

    For the man who sits in the dugout of my team on this matchday, it had to be no other than Heartland manager, Ndubuisi Nduka. He masterminded Heartland’s first league win on the road in more than four years and at a difficult ground in Ibadan.

  • NPFL: Rangers ready for Bayelsa Utd test

    NPFL: Rangers ready for Bayelsa Utd test

    Nigeria Professional Football League side Enugu Rangers have declared that all is well in their camp ahead of today’s League clash against Bayelsa United.

    The Flying Antelopes via their official twitter handle have been updating on the goings in their Enugu camp and have revealed that there are no injury worries going into the game.

    “All the players are training for the game against Bayelsa United. There are no injury worries,” the club twitted.

    The club later added: “All our players will be available for selection for the game against Bayelsa United on Sunday (today).”

    Rangers were ruthless in their last home game as they collapsed fellow title chasers Kano Pillars 4-0 at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium in Enugu and will be gunning for similar result against the visiting NPFL new boys despite being condemned to playing in empty stadium; a punishment handed for club’s misdeed.

  • NPFL In fresh crisis as club owners sack League committee

    NPFL In fresh crisis as club owners sack League committee

    There is tension again in the Nigeria Professional Football league (NPFL) as club owners have sacked the Nduka Irabor led league management committee (LMC), declaring the league management company as an illegal outfit and dissociated themselves from the said company.

    Acting chairman of the club owners, Mr Isaac Danladi announced this in Abuja at the end of an emergency meeting of premier league club owners.

    The club owners also mandated the executive secretary of the premier league, Mr Tunji Babalola to immediately take charge of the secretariat.

    They also ordered the mobilization of secretariat staff to all league venues to take control of activities pending the election of a substantive board for the league.

  • Ogunbote: Good pitches needed in NPFL

    Ogunbote: Good pitches needed in NPFL

    Gbenga Ogunbote, the newly-appointed Coach of Sharks FC of Port Harcourt, has urged facility managers of league stadiums across the country to ensure that their pitches are well-maintained for league matches.

    Ogunbote told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that a well maintained turf would ensure fluency in the flow of the game and make matches more interesting.

    “I am impressed with the facility on ground in Port Harcourt and the one in Abia, which shows that the managers are doing their jobs. Other stadium managers should emulate what they are doing and strive to even get better than them,’’ Ogunbote said.

    He added that all the clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) had ample time to put their pitches in good condition, before the season kicked-off on March 9.

    “The season did not kick-off when it was supposed to, which I believe must have given them enough time to prepare very well, before the commencement,’’ the coach said.

    On the issue of having accurate match data from matches, the former Sunshine Stars FC of Akure coach charged the League Management Committee (LMC) to be up and doing.

    “They should ensure that accurate and easily accessible match records are kept in their data bank, for public consumption. Having such critical records in place will also aid the LMC to monitor on a weekly basis the level of performance of the NPFL clubs,’’ he added.

  • Match officials have been fair so far, says Babalola

    Match officials have been fair so far, says Babalola

    Tunji Babalola, the Secretary of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), has described the standard of officiating being put up by referees in the ongoing season as commendable.

    Babalola made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

    The secretary added that through such consistent performances by the referees, the league could be made more attractive to fans and potential investors.

    He, however, urged referees to exhibit a high sense of integrity and patience during matches, in order to make the 2012/2013 season hitch free.

    “So far, so good and I feel match officials in the NPFL have performed well; they have raised the bar this season which is highly commendable, we hope the rest of the season will be hitch free.

    “The fact still remains that referees are vital to the success of the NPFL and I want to commend their efforts so far, as match results are not being contested.

    “We understand that paying referees’ remuneration is essential; we are only pleading for their understanding if there are slight delays in the disbursement of funds,’’ he said.

    On the compliance of clubs with the NPFL’s rules and regulations, Babalola told NAN that clubs have been cooperative; saying that their support was what the body thrives on.

    “Well, so far, we have been enjoying support from them; we carry them along and it has been helpful that the 2012/2013 league season is turning out to be better than we expected.

  • Mba to break NPFL transfer record

    Mba to break NPFL transfer record

    African Nations Cup star, Sunday Mba could break the Nigeria league transfer record as Warri Wolves want Rangers to pay them 12 million ($75,000) for him.

    Izu Azuka is believed to have commanded the biggest transfer fee in the domestic league thus far when he joined Sunshine Stars as a free agent two seasons ago for about nine million naira.

    MTNFootball.com reports that a committee set up by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has ruled that Mba is a player of Warri Wolves and Rangers would have to pay a transfer fee on the player to have him.

    Both clubs have Thursday deadline to agree on a fee transfer fee for the player who has made known his wish to move to Rangers.

    “Wolves asking price is reasonable because we all know he would go for far more to a club in Europe in the summer and so Rangers could make a huge profit from this transaction,” a top official informed MTNFootball.com

    Several European clubs including Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga have indicated interest in the 24-year-old attacking midfielder, who shone at last month’s AFCON in South Africa.

    The former Nigeria schoolboy international scored a tournament-defining winner against favourites Cote d’Ivoire in the quarterfinal of the tournament and followed it up with the championship winner against Burkina Faso in the final.

     

  • Wolves, Rangers to agree on Mba

    Wolves, Rangers to agree on Mba

    The Nigeria Football Federation has asked Warri Wolves and Rangers to agree on the ownership of African Nations Cup star, Sunday Mba.

    Both Nigeria Professional Football League clubs claim the 24-year-old Nigeria international, who shone at the recent AFCON in South Africa, belongs to them, MTNFootball.com reports.

    After two days of deliberations, the Sanusi Mohammed-led committee charged both clubs to find a meeting point.

    “We have asked both clubs to go and resolve the issues surrounding the ownership of the player,” Sanusi said.

    “We have given them until next week to reach a gentleman agreement, but if they fail to sort it out the federation would make a pronouncement.”

    Rangers spokesman Foster Chime while confirming the directive of the NFF, noted, “Our lawyers and those of Warri Wolves are already meeting to find the best ways to resolve the issue.”

    Last week, the Nigeria league ruled that Mba belongs to Warri Wolves, but the player himself has declared he is a Rangers player when he was presented to the media at a brief ceremony in Enugu along with other Rangers new signings.