By Amaechi Agbo

Baring last minutes change in plans, the 2020/2021 Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL will resume either in September or October, Bestchoicesports.com.ng can report.

This was following the reopening of football activities in the country by the Federation Government on Thursday.

The federal government through the Presidential Task Force of COVID-19, PTF announced Thursday the return of football activities however without fans in the stadiums

The announcement notes that the football resumption must be in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines which would be supervised by the ministry of youth and sports development and the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.

The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu, disclosed these during its weekly briefing in Abuja.

According to him, “Restriction is removed on outdoor communal (non-contact) sports and use of recreational parks for supervised physical exercise; and
Sporting leagues to resume with no fans in stadiums and with necessary NPIs to be directed by the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development and the NCDC.”

This reopening has come as a huge relief for football stakeholders such as footballers, referees, coaches, administrators as well as journalists that have long longed for the return of sporting activities in the country.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria in February this year, the Nigeria football Federation in March announced the suspension of all football related activities in the country until further information

Just last month, the NFF released timetable on the commencement of the 2020/2021 leagues in the country.

The Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL; the Nigeria Women’s Football League, NWFL; the Nigeria National League, NNL and the Nationwide League One, NLO are all expected to resume in September or October 2020 and end in May 2021.