Chairman of the Interim Management Committee of the Nigeria Professional Football League, Gbenga Elegbeleye, has assured that the new NPFL season will start before the end of the year, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Nigerian topflight has been on break since July, with the IMC inaugurated by the sports ministry to replace the League Management Company in October.
Reports went viral on Tuesday that the IMC boss gave the hint to journalists in Abuja, and a further check by The PUNCH with close sources to Elegbeleye confirmed that the commencement of a new NPFL season is in the pipeline.
The IMC and representatives of 20 NPFL clubs met in Abuja, where Elegbeleye revealed that the commencement date for this season’s elite league would be made known after approval from the Nigeria Football Federation.
“I want to assure Nigerians that the 2022/23 NPFL will start this year. We (IMC and representatives of 20 NPFL Clubs) have agreed on the date but we can’t tell the public without approval by the NFF. Once the issue of club licensing and all the participating clubs present standard pitches good enough to be shown on television, the league will kick off.
“We have a number of sponsors already that will enable the league to be shown on TV. However, we still need to brief the NFF on sponsorship. What I can assure everyone is that this season’s league will be better than what we are used to,” Elegbeleye stated.
While the IMC has been urging clubs to complete their club licensing, with the deadline already over, the level of compliance remains to be seen, with reports that the new NPFL season will be played in an abridged format.
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