NAN
The Technical Adviser of Kwara United FC of Ilorin, Abubakar Bala, says the club has the capacity to prosecute 14 games in eight weeks as initially proposed by the League Management Company (LMC).
Bala told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ilorin that he was not happy at the abrupt end to the 2017/2018 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
NAN recalls that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had been engulfed in a leadership battle which had delayed the resumption of the NPFL after the 2018 FIFA World Cup break.
READ ALSO Ventura avoids Ikea, will never get over Italy’s World Cup failure
Bala said that when he took over at Kwara United, the target given to him was to take the club out of relegation zone.
He, however, said he had put in place strategies to finish in the top 10.
“Having put into consideration the hazard of playing 14 games in eight weeks, Kwara United was ready to play the number of games within that stipulated period.
“We had used the mini break we had during the World Cup to prepare for such eventuality.
“We have two teams that we can rely on to prosecute those 14 games within eight weeks.
“So we have prepared enough to end up in the first 10 teams; I am not happy with the way the league has ended, ” Bala said.
NAN reports that an emergency joint consultative meeting of the LMC and the 20 NPFL club owners had declared the league concluded after matchday 24, pronouncing Lobi Stars of Makurdi as having the highest points and the league champion.
The meeting was called against the backdrop of the adverse circumstances in the administration of football in the country which resulted in the indefinite suspension of the resumption of the NPFL.
The circumstances also led to huge fixture congestion for both the league and Cup competitions.
The second of the six-point resolution of the meeting was that none of the 20 NPFL clubs would be relegated to the lower league.
The meeting also agreed that four clubs would be promoted from the Nigeria National League(NNL), bringing the number of the NPFL clubs for the 2018/19 season to 24.
READ ALSO Palestine football chief to fight FIFA ban for inciting hatred
It was also resolved that the 2018/19 NPFL season will commence in November with a total of 24 participating teams divided into two groups of 12 teams each.
The 2018/2019 Season commencing November would be played on 22 match days ending with a playoff to determine the winner by May 2019
Also resolved at the meeting was that three teams from each group (a total of six) would be relegated from the NPFL after the conclusion of the 2018/2019 season.
Two teams would also be promoted to NPFL from the NNL 2019 Season, allowing the NPFL to revert to the normal structure of 20 teams as from the 2019/2020 season.
