This Sunday, the first of the remaining six matchdays of the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season will hold and Chairman of the league board, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye has called on the clubs and match Referees to stay true to the spirit and letters of football rules.
Elegbeleye, who commended the clubs for improved performances of their players as reflected in the quality of play and competitiveness of the matches, urged them to keep the league free of bad blood on and off the field.
“We have had a fairly great season with improvements in quality of play and standard of the teams. It is important that we complete the last six games devoid of controversy and unnecessary disputes capable of ridiculing the game in the eyes of the football World”, stated the NPFL Boss.
Turning to the Referees, Elegbeleye, who is also the 2nd Vice President of the NFF, warned against incompetence and bias in officiating matches.
“We witnessed overall fantastic officiating for most of the completed fixtures, and I want to commend the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) for the good job their members did so far,” remarked the League chief.
“The NPFL and the NFF have shown from the start of the season that there is no place for poor officiating in the league and we are not relenting as the monitoring will be intensified and any one found wanting will be delisted swiftly”, he warned.
“We are looking at ways to reward outstanding Referees as a way of motivating our crop of Match officials and at the appropriate time, this will be unveiled”, promised the former National Assembly Chairman of the House Committee on Sports.
The season was paused after Matchday 32 to allow Rivers United complete backlog of games that accumulated due to their involvement in the CAF Confederation Cup.
When the season resumes on Sunday, May 26, two of the fixtures in Umuahia and Jos would be broadcast live on Startimes while six in Umuahia, Kano, Katsina, Ilorin, Owerri and Jos will be on the NPFL_Live, the OTT live streaming platform powered by Propel Sports Africa.
Matchday 34 will hold on the weekend of Saturday and Sunday of June 1 & 2. Matchday 35 falls on June 8-9, while Matchday 36 is a midweek fixture of June 12. Matchday 37 will hold on June 16 while the NPFL will, in the days ahead, announce the date for the last matchday of the season.
Rangers International, Remo Stars, Enyimba International, and Shooting Stars Sports Club are the front-runners for the title.
