Nigeria’s former national team captain and head coach, ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu is staying non-committal over the issue of cancelling or continuing the domestic league season, due to the halt caused by coronavirus, as he says there are too many contending issues at stake, megasportsaeena.com reports.
Speaking against the backdrop of Wednesday’s meeting between top shots of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) club owners, Chukwu insisted he will not stick out his neck for any of the options on offer, as his declaration would be seen as disservice to any of the contending teams that eventually miss out.
The 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning captain on home soil in Lagos added during Mega Sports of Star 101.5 FM, Lagos that calling off the season due to time constraints would affect teams that are currently in relegation zone as well as Enyymba of Aba that have five matches in hand.
While admitting that time is certainly no longer on the side of League Management Company (LMC) to wrap the season up in full, Chukwu acknowledged that it would be contrary to the prevailing health concerns caused by COVID-19 for the championship to go ahead, but all other issues affecting the various clubs in different dimensions has made it hard to reach a decision.
Lots of controversy ys already brewing over the matter, with third placed Lobi Stars of Makurdi insisting they were never part of a pact by 17 of the clubs to have the season cancelled, while top shots in both the NFF and LMC have refrained from making any categorical declaration on the way forward, even as they hinted that no champion will be named for the campaign.
However, Wednesday’s meeting involving top shots of the NFF, LMC and Nigerian Club Owners Association is said to have brought up a slightly different verdict compared to that announced at the start of the week, as Enyymba of Aba were placed in next season’s CAF Confederation Cup, while Rivers United of Port Harcourt were reversed to feature alongside Plateau United of Jos in the CAF Champions League; but officials insisted there is still room for further adjustments.
Chukwu’s cautious reaction then came few hours after the NFF released a series of tweets on its official handle to strongly state that a decision had not been reached on the matter, as more talks and s consultation were still ongoing; despite 17 clubs having earlier agreed to cancel the season, which has been suspended since March 18 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The nation’s football governing body’s secretary-general, Dr Mohammed Sanusi was quoted as saying “that everyone should wait until after the ongoing consultations. The NFF 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.”
Chukwu stated in response: “It is no something we can just speak about just like that, because there is so much to consider in this matter. We could decide to leave the table the way it is and end the league, but there are some teams that he played fewer number of matches.
“What will happen to Enyymba for instance? There are also those who want to avoid relegation. If we end the season now, what happens to them? This means there are so many issues at stake on this matter.”
On his part, Lobi Stars’ coach, Gbenga Ogunbote suggested that a Super-6 play-off could be a way out of the rigmarole, as he stated during Mega Sports on Thursday morning: “It would be good to have a Super-6 to decide the season, since there is no more time for all the matches to be completed. Instead of cancelling the season, a Super-6 competition would be very nice.”
