The Federal Government has withdrawn its recognition of the League Management Company (LMC) as the operator of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
The FG also advised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to immediately withdraw the licence given to the LMC and, in the meantime, set up an Interim Management Committee (IMC), according to the statement.
Abubakar said that the decision was with immediate effect, and was taken in view of the several unpleasant incidents regarding the management of the football league, specifically the declaration of the National Football League (NFL) as an illegal body by a court.
He added that the decision also was taken to save Nigeria’s “domestic football from total collapse.”
Abubakar stated that the government also considered the status of the LMC, and the NFL’s successor-in-title being outside the purview of the statutes of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
“This decision has become necessary because of the obvious aberration (which is at variance with our football statutes or the laws of the land) whereby a private company is gifted the mandate to manage or run the league indefinitely, without the full involvement of and leadership by the clubs, and devoid of any process to monitor the progress and development of the game,” the statement said.
“Sequel to the above, and in order to rescue our domestic football from total collapse, the Board of the LMC and the LMC as a body would no longer be recognised by the Federal Government as operator of the Nigerian Professional Football League.
“To avert further chaos in our domestic football, the NFF is advised to immediately withdraw the licence given to the LMC and, in the meantime, set up an Interim Management Committee (IMC), to include the current Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the LMC to oversee the affairs of the league until a proper Professional League Board is constituted in accordance with the statutes of the NFF.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
