Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Nigeria National League (NNL), Lawrence Katken, on Tuesday said organisers of the second-tier competition in the Nigerian football league would continue to strive for excellence.
Katken told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that while there has been tremendous improvement in the ongoing league the NNL secretariat would still stay focused.
“The league’s vision and mission is for us to strive for qualitative football in the country, and we still remain with that and we will continue to strive to achieve that,’’ he said.
The NNL COO assured that the league would not relent in building for Nigeria a solid football foundation and future.
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He said this would be done through a fair competition among clubs, leading to promotion to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
“We will continue to provide a level-playing ground for clubs from the lower league to climb and those from the NNL to go down.
“NNL plays a very vital role in determining the future of Nigeria’s professional league, because it offers promotion and demotion options to clubs,” Katken said.
He commended clubs participating in the league for their dedication, urging them to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship.
Katken said allegations of impartially in the officiating of matches in the league were expected, but he assured of the NNL secretariat’s determination to put it under control.
NAN reports that the 2018/2019 NNL kicked off across different venues on April 10, well behind schedule.
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The 2018/2019 competition, which has eight groups to help curtail costs and make logistics more manageable, is in an expanded and abridged eight-group format from the former four groups.
After the group matches, the eight winners will qualify for the playoffs — Super Four — in Asaba, from where four of them would qualify for the 2019/2020 NPFL.
The overall champions of the 2018/2019 NNL season would also be determined there to replace Kada City FC who won last year’s edition.
Eight clubs from the Nationwide League One (NLO) will get promoted into the NNL while eight NNL clubs will get relegated to the (NLO) at the end of the season.(