Two weeks ago, the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL, was officially cancelled by the League Management Company (LMC) almost four months after its suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NPFL which is seen as one of the major football leagues in Africa, competing with other leagues for bragging rights at the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup games took the controversial decision after the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha had ruled out the return of any sports-related activities in the country, especially football for now due to the rising cases of the virus in the country.
The SGF was of the belief that if football was to be played without the fans, there would be no excitement watching matches.
“I’m not sure we are excited about opening sporting activities in our country, particularly soccer [football], which attracts large crowds.
“If our guidelines say large gatherings are banned and not to exceed 20 persons except places of work, I don’t see the excitement if we allow soccer to return to an empty stadium.
“A lot of European countries where these games have started are big businesses and they are doing it carefully and gradually.
“We are not excited about allowing sports to return, we will get there, but for now, we are concerned with the few activities allowed to reopen,” Mustapha told the media.
It was on the basis of this declaration from the PTF that made the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the League Management Company (LMC) to declare the season cancelled on July 10, 2020 where it was announced that there would be no promotion or relegation of teams at all league levels.
It will be recalled that the league ended at the current MatchDay 25 and the NFF ratified an earlier decision by the Club Owners Association of Nigeria to adopt the Points Per Game (PPG) table to rank the teams in order to ensure sporting merit and fairness.
With the PPG, Plateau United, Rivers United and Enyimba who are the top three teams on the table after the last MatchDay will be submitted to the Confederations of African Football (CAF) to represent Nigeria in the 2020/2021 CAF Inter-Club competitions.
However, the decision to cancel the league didn’t go down well with some clubs who were vying for either the league title or a continental ticket as they were of the opinion that the games could be still be played behind closed doors.
Lobi Stars who led the opposition alleged that the LMC wanted to use PPG to favour Enyimba who had played 5 matches less than others due to their continental engagements.
Lobi Stars and Akwa United were not the only antagonists as other football stakeholders also felt the League Management Company should have made extra efforts to organise the remaining matches.
But the football federation explained the decision was taken as a result of several factors which included the costs and financial status of the league bodies and clubs as well as urgent need to meet with the CAF deadline.
It is an open secret that 18 of the 20 NPFL clubs are wholly owned by the state governments who at their own time and pace release funds to the clubs.
Unfortunately, with the advent of the deadly coronavirus, state governments are too preoccupied with efforts to contain the killer disease to think of releasing funds to the clubs.
Thus, almost all the clubs are in dire strait as most have been unable to meet u with their financial obligations to their players and officials.
This ought not to have been the case if the LMC was living up to its core mandate which is to organize and regulate the top tier league for the purpose of organizing and promoting the league to meet global technical and commercial standards.
It will also be recalled that at the height of the controversy over the Club Owners’ decision to cancel the league season using PPG, a veteran journalist and Chairman of Akwa United Football Club, Paul Bassey had disclosed that the LMC has not paid the 20 Nigeria Professional Football League NPFL club owners since 2017.
It is therefore apt to say that the Nigerian topflight has recorded a hat-trick of inconclusive seasons. This is because from 2017/2018 season to 2020 season, the league ended abruptly.
Meanwhile, other major leagues in Africa such as Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and South Africa are set to resume actions after equally suspending their leagues.
These other leagues apart from NPFL are using the same templates some European leagues are using – playing the games behind closed doors. This is because these leagues have utilised maximally the business angle of sports and the revenue it generates for the growth of their various economies.
In Morocco, according to AFP Sports, action will resume on 27th July, followed by Tunisia on 2nd August while Egypt will resume on 6th August.
Though the richest league in Africa, the South African league will also resume actions, they are yet to announce the date.
According to fixtures already released ahead of league resumption in Morroco, three-time African champions Raja Casablanca will begin ‘operation catch-up’ this Monday when they make a 100-kilometre journey south to face Difaa el Jadidi.
Sixth-place Raja have played up to five matches less than some Botola Pro 1 rivals due to commitments in the CAF Champions League, where they have reached the semifinals.
Arch-rivals and defending champions Wydad Casablanca top the table with 36 points, one more than FUS Rabat and two above Mouloudia Oudja.
Reda Hajhouj from bottom-half Olympique Khouribga leads the Golden Boot race with 10 goals, one more than Ivorian Joseph Guede Gnadou from fifth-place AS FAR.
In Egypt, Zamalek have changed their minds after initially saying they would boycott the Egyptian Premier League when it restarted unless “a cure for the coronavirus is found”.
Hazem Emam, who shares the captaincy with Shikabala, went so far as to say he would raise the resumption issue with state president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
But a change of heart saw Zamalek return to training and thrash fellow Premier League outfit Smouha 5-1 in a warm-up match.
Al Ahly are the runaway league leaders on 49 points halfway through the 34-match season, followed by Al Mokawloon (33 points), Pyramids FC (32) and Zamalek (28).
In Tunisia, four-time African champions Esperance is holding a 10-point lead with 10 rounds remaining.
The ‘Blood and Gold’ are chasing a fourth straight title and were outstanding before the lockdown, winning 14 matches and drawing the other two to amass 44 points.
Their wins included a 7-1 drubbing of JS Kairouan – the widest winning margin so far this season – and Anice Badri is a Golden Boot contender despite scoring only six goals.
CS Sfaxien lie second with 34 points, three more than US Monastir and seven ahead of former African champions Club Africain.
In South Africa, the delay to announce the resumption day is as a result of league officials and the referees not agreeing on a particular date.
“Our (Premiership) relationship with the association is very fragile and the sooner it is resolved amicably the better,” said the chairman of top-flight club SuperSport United. Khulu Sibiya.
League bosses wanted to resume on 18 July in order to finish by 31 August, but the national body said referees would be available only from 1 August.
There is no love lost between the organisations with officials trading almost daily accusations in the media, and a restart date has yet to be confirmed.
In Algeria, football officials say the situation is “difficult” with the Maghreb country among the hardest hit in Africa by the pandemic.
No date has been set for a resumption of the league, but there is hope that the Coupe d’Algerie can be completed.
