Sports Minister, Sunday Dare has hinted that he would push through a consultative meeting with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the League Management Company (LMC), and other football stakeholders towards ensuring a more stable calendar and robust Nigeria Professional Football League season.
Dare who stated that the strength and survival of football development in Nigeria depend on a virile domestic league bemoaned the lack of a regular-season calendar for the NPFL but pointed out that a roundtable discussion with the football stakeholders would help chart the way forward before the commencement of the next league season.
“The strength and survival of football development as a country are dependent on the strength, and vitality of the domestic league. When you look at other football nations, you see how they thrive which is reflected in their national teams,” Dare began in an interview with journalists.
“It is because they have a robust league and with good governance. Enforcement and licensing regions that work without compromise. Good Infrastructure and welfare of players.
“We know that government own most of these clubs and so there is a challenge in that regard. We have made effort to make things happen. I am not happy with the state of our football. The governance structure around our league is bad before we talk about finances.
“We need to get the governance structure right. Once you do that the doors of funding will come. What is a league without a proper calendar? I will not invest in a league without a proper calendar. People have budgets and they have to plan.
“We hope that very soon with the end of this season and before the start of next season we will be to sit down with the NFF, LMC, and Club Owners and we will find a way around it. We will engage and then we will take some very tough steps and decisions to make sure that Nigeria gets the kind of league we want,” he concluded.
