The Chairman, League Management Company (LMC), Malam Shehu Dikko, has said, based on available statistics, the just concluded Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season is the best since the inception of professional football in the country.
While speaking at the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), FCT Chapter’s Guest Forum in Abuja, the LMC chairman highlighted the positives from the season and concluded that they far outweigh the negatives.
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“The last League season recorded impressive statistics better than the previous seasons.
“The number of away wins recorded (36) was the highest since the LMC took charge as owners and organisers of the Nigerian elite league.
“Technically, it was the best League, not just in the NPFL history but since the start of the professional football league in Nigeria.
“Commercially, it was challenging, but it was the most innovative because we brought innovations that people thought were impossible to do before. It was challenging because funds did not come the way we thought they would.
“Organisation of the league was also very challenging because of the COVID-19 and some other issues.
“When I say it is the best, technically, we look at the numbers and numbers don’t lie,” said Dikko
He elucidated that 288 matches were won out of 380 played, 92 drawn, with 352 home victories, 36 away wins and 791 goals scored for an average of 2.8 goals per match.
Dikko also expressed satisfaction with officiating as he revealed that only 81 penalties were awarded throughout the season compared to over 100 in previous seasons.