The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Sports Minister

  • TENURE TUSSLE: Minister to meet with LMC, NFF, Club Owners

    TENURE TUSSLE: Minister to meet with LMC, NFF, Club Owners

    Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi is to meet with League Management Company (LMC), the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Club Owners/League Managers over disagreements among the trio about the LMC’s tenure as Glo Nigeria Premier League administrator.

    SportingLife was informed by a reliable source that the minister would soon wade in to stop the dispute from escalating.

    The problem started when the Club Owners’ Association met in Abuja recently and declared that LMC was no longer qualified to run the Glo League as its tenure had expired. The association then asked the company to hand over things in its possession. However, LMC and its parent body, the NFF immediately declared that the Club Owners lacked such powers.

    Although no date has been fixed for the parley with the minister, SportingLife gathered that high level discussions are ongoing to ensure that all those that matter in the league fraternity attend the meeting.

    The league season ended in October but no date has been fixed for the start of the next season despite 2014 being a World Cup year with all domestic programmes (including the league) expected to have been ironed out by then.

    Kano Pillars are the current holders of the league having pipped Enyimba and Bayelsa United to the title. They are yet to receive the trophy and the prize money won to that effect.

     

  • NPL doesn’t need clubs’ money —Sports Minister

    SPORTS Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi has helped to reduce the tension on Nigeria Premier League (NPL) clubs asked to pay N50 million bench fee by the Interim Management Committee of the NPL before the commencement of 2012/2013 season.

    The Interim management committee led by Nduka Irabor, immediately after their inauguration on the 27th December, 2012 in Abuja, mandated all club sides to pay N50 million as bond fee as a way of ensuring a smooth running of the league.

    To allay the fear of the clubs, who thought the money would be paid to the NPL, the minister has explained that the money which is meant for the players’ signing-on-fees and other welfare of the league players was only demanded for to be in the account of the respective clubs.

    Abdullahi declared: “The NPL does not need their money; what they are demanding is for those clubs to show the interim board that they have at least N50 million in their accounts which will cover for the players’ signing-on-fees.

    “We are growing tired of the issues of players’ welfarism in our league, and this needs to be sanitized.”