As I advocated and advised in this column four weeks ago, football authorities in Nigeria have cancelled the 2019/20 league season. It is only meet and proper that the season is cancelled in view of the almost insurmountable challenges that Covid-19 has posed to all sports, particularly football, this season. Wise counsel needed to prevail so as to harvest the positives in the pandemic and minimise its consequences on the national passion.
I had argued that the sheer enormity of the financial resources required to do Covid-19 tests on players and officials would put a massive strain on the finances of football clubs, and that in the light of this, the sensible thing to do was to reassess the situation with a view to finding new positives from the seemingly hopeless situation. The totality of the resolutions passed at an online meeting of the NFF Football Committee last week is that the current season has effectively come to an end.
According to media reports, the Committee considered all the issues affecting the prime league but also lower divisions (including the status of the leagues before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic), the impact of the pandemic-induced disruptions, the health, safety and movement restrictive measures in the country, the potential protocols for football resumption, the costs, the financial status of the leagues and clubs, CAF calendar and resolutions of the various leagues as conveyed to the NFF, before foreclosing the season and picking a date for the next season.
The main decisions affecting the Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL, are the submission of the names of the Top Three clubs on the log as at Match Day 25 to CAF to represent Nigeria in the CAF Club competitions next season and the cancellation of both promotion to and relegation from the top league for this season. The second tier, the Nigeria National League, NNL, whose season was at Match Day 3-5 and has been on break since December 17, 2019, was outrightly cancelled and declared null and void. The third tier, the Nationwide League One, NLO, and the Nigeria Women Football League, NWFL, which were yet to commence the 2019/20 season, had their season aborted. The AITEO Cup, which had only commenced at the state level, suffered the same fate.
The icing on the cake is the decision to start next season from September/October 2020 and end May 2021 subject to the full reopening of the country and the approval of the health authorities. This decision, advertently or inadvertently, aligns our football league with the European season in line with what I have been canvassing for years. Even though the new calendar is subject to the full reopening of the country and the approval of the health authorities, the fact that our football authorities found the courage to take this decision is commendable. If they can find the organisational capacity to stick to this calendar, the national passion will be the better for it.
This is the challenge that stares us in the face. As it is usually with us, nature has found a way to create a new league calendar for us without us really working to adjust our football season. We must not blunder this opportunity. While the government is working on the health and safety protocols, our football authorities should naturally concern themselves with how to maximise the positives in the change for the benefit of the national passion.
As I have advised ad infinitum, our football authorities need to create very attractive marketing opportunities for sponsors and broadcasters. They need to instil discipline into every aspect of the league system, particularly officiating, match time and game sequence. They need to minimise predictability of results and improve impartiality of refereeing. They need to upgrade attention to details. Where predictability is needed is in the assurance of games taking place without fail at appointed times with unabridged regularity. All these will enhance the integrity of the game.
In the meantime, clubs will do well to improve their own act. The job of making the league better does not lie with the authorities alone. In fact, improving the quality of the league actually lies with the clubs, especially its thorough professionalisation. This is why the clubs need to reinvent their evidently poor structures to bring them up to global standards. They cannot expect to achieve world standards with the poor patches they parade as club structures. They cannot continue to run the clubs largely on impulse.
For us in Ondo and Ekiti States, the adjustment of the league calendar is a great opportunity to sharpen our implements so as to win honours. It is not acceptable that we merely make up the numbers year in year out. Sunshine Stars of Akure were barely surviving in the cancelled season and could not have won any title, whether league or cup. Ekiti United of Ado-Ekiti should thank their stars for the decision to cancel the season which helped them to escape relegation without having to fight a dog war. Their position at the bottom of the log as at lockdown pointed invariably to relegation. With this new opportunity, Sunshine Stars should work to win the premier league and/or the AITEO Cup. Ekiti United should work to gain promotion to the elite league. If they work hard at it, they can do it. Best of luck to both.