Four months ago, the 2021/22 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season ended with Rivers United emerging as the champions for the first time after the merger of the state-owned football clubs, Sharks FC and Dolphins in 2016.
As expected, it was believed the league organisers led by the now defunct League Management Company [LMC] would in the earnest plan for the new season. That, however, failed to materialise following the scrapping of the controversial league body by the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development in September.
According to the sports ministry, the decision was taken in view of the several unpleasant incidents regarding the management of the football league, specifically the declaration of the National Football League (NFL) as an illegal body by a court.
“This decision has become necessary because of the obvious aberration (which is at variance with our football statutes or the laws of the land) whereby a private company is gifted the mandate to manage or run the league indefinitely, without the full involvement of and leadership by the clubs, and devoid of any process to monitor the progress and development of the game.
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“Sequel to the above, and in order to rescue our domestic football from total collapse, the Board of the LMC and the LMC as a body would no longer be recognised by the Federal Government as operator of the Nigerian Professional Football League.
“To avert further chaos in our domestic football, the NFF is advised to immediately withdraw the license given to the LMC and, in the meantime, set up an Interim Management Committee (IMC), to include the current Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the LMC to oversee the affairs of the league until a proper Professional League Board is constituted in accordance with the statutes of the NFF,” the sports ministry said in a statement.
In a bid to reposition the league, the sports minister, Sunday Dare, then set up the Interim Management Committee (IMC) that will manage the affairs of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Consequently, a former Director General of the defunct National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, was named the chairman of the Committee charged with the responsibility of repositioning the domestic league.
In October, the president of the NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, while inaugurating the IMC pinpointed lack of television broadcasting as one of the major drawbacks of the elite League.
“There is a lot of work to be done by this committee of eminent and respectable persons in Nigeria Football, people with the pedigree and real caliber to effect change. One of the changes must be to ensure that our League is back on television, and that there is a lot of integrity and credibility to the way and manner it is being administered,” he said.
Gusau also highlighted the need for the IMC to imbue the nation’s elite domestic cadre with integrity, credibility and a firm hand on management and administration in order to turn things around for the better.
Speaking during the inauguration, Egbeleye noted that there are huge problems affecting the growth and development of the league.
“Definitely, we have a lot of problems in the League. We have problems with officiating, lack of television and several other hiccups. Our job will be to do a lot to redress these within the short time we have, and we also appeal to the media to ensure credibility in their reporting of the League,” said Elegbeleye, also a former vice chairman of the Youth and Sports Development Committee of the House of Representatives.
Unfortunately, nearly two months after its inauguration, the committee is yet to set the league in motion as the ‘wise men’ are faced with several obstacles that have refused to give way for the Nigerian topflight to breath the much anticipated fresh air.
The major obstacle in the path of the IMC is said to be some members of the new NFF board who are sympathetic to the ousted chairman of the LMC, Alhaji Shehu Dikko.
According to reliable sources, the IMC as constituted by the sports ministry and approved by the NFF needs the support of the football governing body to be able to succeed in its assignment.
Unwillingly to see the IMC succeed, the NFF is allegedly not acting fast in approving some of the requests forwarded to it by the leadership of the IMC.
For instance, it is said the IMC by its ad hoc nature, is not permitted to go into some contractual agreement without the consent and approval of the NFF.
Another obstacle in the way of the IMC is said to be the high profile of debts left behind by the former league organisers. It is an open secret that the LMC owes referees and match officials indemnities and allowances running into millions of naira.
It is said the IMC is finding ways to settle the backlog of indemnities owed the referees by the LMC for the new season to commence.
Therefore, as part of preparations for the 2022/2023 season, the IMC and the 20 club chairmen met recently in Abuja and set an agenda to have a rebranded league season.
According to Elegbeleye, the 2022/23 NFF season will kick-off in December even as the exact date is kept under wraps for the time being.
The IMC chairman said the agreed date for what is said to be an abridged league season will be made known to the public as soon as approval is given by the NFF.
According to informed sources, the Elegbeleye led IMC is considering shortening the 2022–2023 NPFL season due to time constraints and in an effort to align the Nigerian football calendar with other major leagues in the world.
If the IMC and the participating clubs finally settle for an abridged league season, the 20 clubs would be split into two groups of 10 teams each. And the top three teams from each group will go to the Super-Six playoff, where the league winner and qualifiers for CAF inter-club competitions would be determined.
For now, as the IMC battles frantically to surmount the obstacles before it, the clubs and Nigerian football fans are left guessing when the 2022/2023 NPFL season would commence.
