Confusion As 2019/20 NPFL Season Gets Three Kick-off Dates
By Our Correspondent
First, the Honourable minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare ‘confirmed’ that the 2019/2020 Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL will kickoff on October 20, 2019, Bestchoicesports.com.ng can report
That ‘confirmation’ prompted the NPFL club owners and the League Management Company, LMC, to hold a meeting on Monday, October 14, 2019 in Abuja to fashion out ways for the league and hold draw for the fixtures.
In the meeting, the two bodies drafted the matchday 1 and 2 fixtures of the new season. Thereafter, 27 day of October was announced as the new kickoff date
However, after going into a closed door meeting, journalists who kept vigil with the LMC and the club owners till 3am Tuesday, reported that the chairman of the LMC, Shehu Dikko has again ‘confirmed’ that the new season will kickoff on November 3, 2019.
This is not the only time the league has suffered postponement as the 2019/20 league which has been delayed for more than four months was first scheduled to commence on September 28, 2019. But that was never to be.
Will this be the last time the league kickoff will be delayed?
Chairman, Bimo Sporting Club, Chinedu Okoye cares less about the kickoff date.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, Mr Okoye said he does not care about the kickoff date as the league has been abandoned and left to die.
“I do not care about the kickoff date. The managers of the league are not sincere with our football. They have left our league to die.
“On what basis is the league going to kick off? You are commencing the league without a sponsor. You are commencing the league without paying referees and match officials their indemnities of last season. You are starting the league without paying the clubs their entitlements such as participation fee.
“So what are you starting the league to do? You start the league, you compound the problems, we go back from bad to worse
“We need to be sincere with ourselves. Our league is dead. We should be talking about structuring the league but that is not possible because the people managing the league are selfish, greed and do not have vision for the league,” he said.
Will the 2019/2020 NPFL season kickoff on November 3rd, 2019? Time and tides will provide answer to this.