The 20 clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), will receive N10m each today in Abuja as take-off grants from the Interim Management Committee (IMC), ahead of the 2022/23 season billed to kickoff on January 8.
The president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, will be present at the presenting ceremony, which will also feature the leadership of the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA).
In a statement, the Chairman of the IMC, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye said “The presentation ceremony will have in attendance, the NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, who wants to address all stakeholders ahead of the start of the season to assure them that the Football House will support every move to upgrade our league in terms of transparency, level playing ground and improved performance.
“It is also a platform for the IMC to make a public presentation of the takeoff grant to our participating clubs to put them on a good pedestal to start the season.”
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MatchDay 1 of the NPFL 2022/23 season will be held on Sunday, January 8 in Groups A and B of the Abridged League format which the IMC arrived at to ensure that the season is concluded in May to align with the international calendar.
The Akwa United versus Bendel Insurance fixture in Uyo will mark the official kick-off of the season.
Meanwhile, there are indications that 2017 NPFL champions, Plateau United may boycott the league.
According to a statement from the club dated December 30, 2022, the club embarked on a two-week break to resume on January 14th, a week after the abridged league must have started.
And considering the unfriendly disposition of most of the clubs towards the abridged league format as introduced by the IMC, it is left to be seen how many of the clubs would turn up today to receive the N10m largesse from the league organizers.
Before now, only four out of the 20 NPFL clubs had accepted to compete in the abridged league.
