Nigeria’s ministry of sports has come out with a clarification of the role they are playing in the quest for a decision on whether the country’s football league should resume or be cancelled, but the umbrella body expatiated that their effort is only advisory, megasportsarena.com reports.
In what can be seen as a smart move to avoid being seen as interfering in football matters, the ministry has come out with an formal statement that their officials did not part of the meeting that held on Wednesday, among representatives of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), League Management Company (LMC), club owners and other stakeholders.
The meeting was convened for them to decide on how best to end the season, which may not be able to run its full course any longer, after it was put on hold by the outbreak of the persisting coronavirus pandemic, but the sports ministry has now disclosed that they only advised on the need for a decision to be reached eventually, but they were not part of the deliberations.
This comes at a point updated reports indicated that NFF top shots and LMC both upheld a vote by 17 clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), who reportedly decided to end the season and named clubs that will represent the country in continental competitions, while adding that there will not be any relegation nor promotion.
Some of the crucial verdicts reached by the club owners at their own meeting last weekend and at Wednesday’s follow-up discussions with the NFF and LMC were that Kano Pillars and Enyimba of Aba represent Nigeria in the CAF Confederation Cup, while Plateau United of Jos play in the CAF Champions League, along with Rivers United of Port Harcourt, who placed third in the NPFL after the league standings were calculated on points per game (PPG) basis.
That, though, was in contrast with an earlier suggestion that league leaders, Plateau United and Enyimba, who had five matches in hand but placed second on the log after the PPG calculations, will feature in the Champions League, with 17 of the clubs said to have agreed but third placed Lobi Stars of Makurdi and Awa United of Uyo did not support the vote.
The clubs owners added that no promotion was considered from the lower division Nigeria National League (NNL), because the second-tier had not played at least half of their fixtures schedule before their season was suspended last year, while no club would be relegated from the NPFL.
In the wake of both meetings, though, the NFF pointed out that all statements made therein were only suggestions and, in what many observers felt was a way of bowing to demands from the sports ministry, the football body added that they will formally communicate their decision to the minister, Sunday Akinlabi Dare.
However, in a quick move to avoid been tagged with interfering in the running of football, the sports ministry stressed on Thursday that they are not playing any role in how a decision would eventually be reached on the matter.
Although a statement by the ministry admitted that Dare had directed the NFF to come up with the best possible options to end the season, the press release added that the minister was only playing an advisory role, as he enjoined all football stakeholders to reach a cordial verdict, in line with the spirit of fair play and justice.
The statement that was signed by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Mr Gabriel Aduda also made reference to a virtual meeting presided over by Dare on Monday, who then directed that an enlarged gathering of football stakeholders should be convened to deliberate further in a bid to agree and find a way forward for the NPFL, after which the NFF should revert to the ministry.
The permanent secretary stressed that, though the ministry was invited for the second meeting, it decided to exclude itself to enable the football stakeholders thrash out the critical issues for themselves and reach a decision they deem most suitable for them, then update the ministry.
Aduda added: “The Ministry awaits the final decision of the meeting communicated to it officially after which it would confer with the necessary authorities to make a final pronouncement on the league.
“The final decision on the league would be guided by the Covid-19 protocols and infrastructure. The Minister had taken a bold decision by advising the Federal Government to postpone the National Sports Festival earlier scheduled for March 20th to April 1st 2020 due to the Pandemic.”
