NFF cuts short Plateau United, Enyimba, Rivers United celebrations ...Says still consulting on how to end league season
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) may have stopped Plateau United, Enyimba and Rivers United from celebrating too early their ‘qualification’ for next year’s continental club competitions as decided on Sunday by some club chairmen.
During a virtual meeting on June 21, 17 of the 20 Nigeria Professional Football league clubs voted to end the 2020 season using the Points Per Game, PPG, mechanism which subsequently handed continental tickets to the trio in that order.
However, there were dissenting voices as Lobi Stars and Akwa United abstained from voting as they vehemently opposed the adaptation of the controversial PPG to end the season.
Unfortunately, following the crisis generated by the PPG as applied by the club chairmen, the Nigeria Football Federation decided to wade into the matter in order to find a more acceptable way to end the league.
According to a statement from the NFF’s General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, the NFF is consulting widely to determine the pattern to be adopted to end the season.
“The Nigeria Football Federation has declared that wide consultation is still ongoing as to the format and pattern of foreclosing the 2019/2020 Football Season, including that of the Nigeria
Professional Football League, NPFL,” the statement said.
Reacting to widespread reports that a vast majority of club owners in the Nigeria Professional Football League had voted to end the season and therefore, the Points Per Game (PPG) principle would be adopted to determine Nigeria’s flagbearers in next year’s continental club competitions, NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, said that everyone should wait until after the ongoing consultations.
Meanwhile, the supervising ministry has held a virtual meeting with the leadership of the NFF over the NPFL 2019/2020 season and other pertinent matters.
According to the sports minister, Sunday Dare on his twitter handle, “A final decision will be reached shortly in the interest of all stakeholders, football development and health and safety.”
The 2019/2020 NPFL season was suspended on March 18 due to the spread of coronavirus pandemic.