Align NPFL’s calendar with other leagues for efficiency, says Owolabi

An ex-international, Felix Owolabi, on Wednesday said the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) would continue to stumble unless it aligned its calendar with other leagues in the world.

Owolabi, who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, added that a vibrant league should have proper structures to enable it to thrive.

“A league that has structure has a uniform date with the rest of the world, I mean take a look at leagues within Africa they are half way into their 2018/2019 season.

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“We started our own on Jan.13, that’s not good enough, what do we achieve, our calendar is always different which has not helped our game at all.

“This season has started, there is no guarantee that it is going to end after 37 matches. Last season ended after week 24, it’s so sad as it is honestly,” he said.

Owolabi, who plied his trade with 3SC FC of Ibadan during his active days said that the absence of a synchronised league calendar would continue to hamper the performance of the country’s representatives in continental competitions.

“Later we blame our footballers, I have always said it, no matter how talented players are.

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“The absence of viable structure will always make them look like jokers, we can’t win CAF championship with this attitude and we always expect a miracle.

“Every country that wants to develop its football must have a structure on ground, so that you will have a calendar year, do we have a calendar year at the moment.

“How do you expect our team to defeat teams that have been playing competitively for months, it’s nothing but a dream, that’s why we usually don’t go past the group stage,” he said.

NAN reports that the 2018/2019 season kicked-off January 13 across the various venues in country.