•as league gets August 26 kick-off date
President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has challenged the newly-inaugurated board of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) led by a former Director General of the defunct National Sports Commission (NSC), Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye, to improve the league and make it more attractive to sponsors.
Gusau stated this on Wednesday while inaugurating the board at the NFF Conference Room in Abuja. Tribune Sports recall that Elegbeleye was appointed last season by Gusau as the chairman of the now defunct Interim Management Committee (IMC) which not only delivered on its mandate but give the league a facelift.
The NFF president who praised Elegbeleye and his colleagues for a job well done last season said they were brought back for continuity while asking them to come out with a league that Nigeria and indeed the world would be proud of. He however tasked them on the issue of club licensing which he said is the way to go if Nigeria wants to do it right as it is done in normal clime.
“We brought back most people from the Interim Management Committee (IMC) because we want continuity. It is not because we like their faces or we want anything. But the issue here is if you can give someone responsibility and he does a good job for you, you will thank him and even give him the opportunity to do more. Basically, we are doing this to ensure continuity. If they can do it in one season we expect to see more because Nigerians are still yearning for change as far as our league is concerned.
“And I want to bring it to your notice that we cannot achieve that change and you have to be strict and serious about club licensing and that we are not going to compromise. It must start from a certain level to a certain level. But we must have a target. This year as far as our progress is concerned for this season, this is the target we have put in place for our clubs and we must meet that target before a club is allowed to participate in the league and we are very serious about that. We cannot say we are running a proper league without ensuring that we enforce club licensing regulations because that is the way to go. It is very important that we take note of this and we start working on it. We are not saying we are going to achieve that this year but that must be the target. It is part of the task that you must look at so that we can refer to our league as truly professional.
“The world is watching you. They want to see the changes you are bringing on board and I want to assure you that at the NFF we are always available to support you to bring what will lead to the progress of the league. Personally, I will always be available for you for us to achieve our goals so that we can get it right. All eyes are now on the league,” Gusau said.
Elegbeleye in his response said all hands will be on the deck in ensuring that the board improves on its last performance by bringing standards and innovations that every Nigerian will be proud of while stressing that players’ welfare is very important. He added that the NPFL will kick off on August 26, 2023.
“We hope to improve on the league. People have praised and showered accolades on us but as far as I’m concerned we are yet to reach the destination because there are so many things to be done. But I discovered that we had massive improvement in officiating but at the same time, I noticed that there are questionable decisions that we feel will not be good for the game. We want the referees to improve to get better results.
“We are talking about club licensing. A club is qualified to play in the premier league based on certain criteria and remember six of them last season played away from their home because their home grounds were considered not good enough. Again, if we see that the home grounds are still not okay, we won’t allow them to play there.
“We are concerned about players’ welfare because very soon we’ll peg the minimum salary for the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). We will also look at the situation where a player will only sign for a club for one season and leave next season. If we continue this way, our best legs will never be in Nigeria. So we have to tie them down to a contract of the maximum of two or three seasons before he can leave the club and if you must go there must be a stake in terms of financial involvement by the club that is trying to take you.
“The league will be starting on the 26th of August and it is not tentative. Tentative means we are not sure but we are sure that the league will start on August 26.”
