There is uncertainty in the air over the kick off date for the 2018/2019 Nigeria Professional Football League season, as controversy still trails the date for the Nigeria National League (NNL) Super 8 playoff.
While the League Management Company (LMC) insists that the Nigeria Football Professional League (NPFL) would kick off on January 13, the Nigeria National League teams are still dragging their feet.
This is even as the draws for the new league season were conducted at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba last November.
The draws for the new season took place in the stadium at the half time of the Super Cup between Lobi Stars and Rangers International which ended 1-0 in favour of Lobi Stars FC.
During the draws, the 20 teams were grouped in two different groups with four promoted teams in the NNL expected to join the already 20 NPFL clubs to make it 24 after the crisis rocking the Nigeria National league NNL must have been resolved.
The 2018/19 Nigeria Football Professional League (NPFL) scheduled to kick off on January 13, 2019, but that will be only when the ‘controversial’ Nigeria National League (NNL) Super 8 playoff is concluded.
The playoff is scheduled to kick off today after it was shifted twice by the affected club owners in Aba.
But there are uncertainties on the number of teams that will be promoted from the NNL to the NPFL as well as the kick off date for 2018/19 NPFL season.
According to the LMC, the 2018/19 season will be played on abridged format as the teams will be selected to join either of the two abridged group based on their location (North and South).
The Super 8 has generated a lot of controversies after the NNL at its Annual General Assembly on November 24, 2018 picked Wednesday, 19th December 2018 to play the matches but couldn’t hold after five clubs – 3SC,Remo Stars, Kada, Bendel Insurance, and Kogi United have refused to show up.
It was again shifted to January 3, 2019 till it was again moved to January 5, 2019 (today) to allow the participating teams have ample time to plan for their travelling and logistics after the festive seasons.
According to the Chief Operating Officer of NNL, Lawrence Katken in a letter to the chairman Nigeria Football Federation Football Committee which was sighted by Trust Sports, requested for a shift of date.
“Sequel to our meeting of 27th December, 2018 held in Lagos, we hereby request for shift of date for the commencement of the Super8 tournament from 3rd to 5th January, 2019.
“This is to enable the concerned clubs effect the resolutions of the meeting in good time,” it stated.
It will be recalled that the NNL administrators had proposed that two teams from each four abridge leagues (8 teams) should be promoted to participate in the 2018/19 Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL season while the NFF, on the other hand, had insisted that the Super 8 playoff should hold to produce four teams that will join the existing 20 NPFL clubs for 2018/19 season.
It will also be recalled that the NPFL was terminated with 24 rounds of matches played last season due to the crisis rocking Nigeria Football, and the LMC with the club owners decide to stage the upcoming season in an abridged form with no teams relegated and four teams promoted.
But the Board governing the lower division failed to produce the four promoted teams instead projecting eight teams which meant that 12 teams will relegate if they stick with 28 teams format while four will gain promotion from the lower league at the end of next season league.
If the LMC and club owners have their way with 24 teams, this means only eight clubs will go on relegation with 16 teams remaining while four teams will join from the NNL to make it 20.
However, in a meeting with the club owners last year, the LMC rejected the proposal and ordered them to stage a Super 8 competition to produce the four promoted teams in two weeks which was not done.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria National League’s Annual General Meeting Congress last year had approved the 2018/2019 season to kick off on January 19, 2019, in an abridged format of 4 groups.
Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) chief operating officer, Mallam Salihu Abubakar speaking to Trust Sports after an emergency meeting last year hinted that the issue of how many teams to gain promotion from the lower cadre Nigeria National League (NNL) would be resolved.
LMC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, who doubles as the Nigeria Football Federation second Vice President said all plans are in place for the Super eight to be concluded before the kick-off date of the new NPFL season.
“The NNL have made their plans. I think they want to start on the 5th, I guess, to finish on the 8th or 9th of January, Because of the holidays they are giving the teams time to arrive between 3rd or 4th.
“We will get it done so we can start the league. We have learnt our lessons from what happened.”
Dikko added that the decision to pick Lobi Stars as the Country’s representatives in this season’s CAF Champions League has paid off, after the Pride of Benue qualified for the lucrative group stage of the competition.
“Already the decision to put Lobi on the continent has paid off. They have qualified for the group stage (of CAF Champions League) meaning the decision has worked. If it didn’t work, we would have taken the flak as well. Rangers as well are on the verge of qualifying for the (CAF Confederation Cup) group stage, God willing”.
Also speaking to Trust Sports, Alhaji Gara Gombe said it will be wrong to declare clubs winners of the NPFL without demoting the last four teams on the log at the time the winners were identified.
“They (LMC) got it wrong to say there is no relegation in the NPFL. It wrong and an injustice to sat that. They should be courageous to demote the last four teams, but they don’t want to do that because they want to favour some people,” Gombe said.
As it stands, the 2018/19 NPFL season can’t kick off without the Super 8 being concluded.
Meanwhile, Gombe and Real said they have yet to receive the N2m promised them by the NFF.
The NFF Emergency Committee promised to pay each of the three teams who were in Aba in December for the postponed play-offs N2m. Delta Force, Real and Gombe are the affected teams.
