By David Ngobua
The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has charged the board of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) to ensure strict adherence to match fixtures in the 2025 season.
Speaking on Tuesday at the 2024 NPFL Annual General Meeting in Abuja, the NFF president bemoaned the situation where fixtures involving clubs that are taking part in continental competitions are allowed to accumulate.
Gusau, therefore, said the NPFL should ensure that the fixtures for the 2024/2025 fixtures are made public only after they have vetted and certified that the matches would be prosecuted without a glitch.
He said, “Let us holistically look at where we were and where we are now and where the NFF can come in to support you to improve. We shall do our best to continue to improve on the standard of the league.
“Last season we had challenges with fixtures. We have to keep the fixtures. You shouldn’t make the fixtures public until everything is in order. We must keep to it. There shouldn’t be accumulated fixtures again. No postponement of matches.
“We must keep to the fixtures from the beginning to the end of the season. When drawing up the fixtures, you must take into consideration other competitions like the Federation Cup. With your cooperation, we would achieve this. By the grace of God, we would make a lot of changes.”
Gusau maintained that if the NPFL adheres to match fixtures, it would enable sponsors of the league to plan on what they want to do to support the growth of the league.
Before he declared the AGM open, the NFF president commended the NPFL and one of its sponsors, GTI, for a job well done.
Gusau, however, implored the league body to look for additional sponsors to bring more money into the NPFL.