2023-24 NPL Resumption Date Postponed For Good Reasons - Enakhena

2023-24 NPL Resumption Date Postponed For Good Reasons - Enakhena

By Gbenga Gboyega

The start of the 2023-24 Nigeria Premier League season is surrounded by drama following recent reports from the League's Management Committee on shifting the resumption date two weeks further from the initially proposed August 26th, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

At the first consultative meeting with Club Owners on August 3rd, 2023, the Gbenga Elegbeleye-led board proposed two league formats for the 2023-24 Nigeria Premier League season, to the Club Owners and stakeholders present.

The options were the Abridged League consisting of two groups of 10 clubs apiece in an 18-MatchDay season or a linear marathon format of all 20 clubs playing home and away in a 38-MatchDay campaign, as the floor indicated their preferences.

Speaking exclusively with the Chairman of the newly promoted NPL team Sporting Lagos, Mr. Godwin Enakhena, who was also present at the meeting, told BSN Sports that the decisions made at the time, alongside the streaming arrangements of Propel Africa, impacted the League's resumption time.

"It is better to start later when well prepared than to start haphazardly," Godwin told BSN Sports on a call.

"The Club Owners were presented in Abuja with both options presented before us for running the new league season, and we all indicated our choices. 

"Propel Sports Africa who are League partners also needed to secure enough bandwidth to host the League games on their streaming platforms, so, the stakeholders were all carried along in the overall decisions," he added.

The NPL Board also considered the clubs representing the league on the continent in the CAF Champions League qualifiers, such as Remo Stars and Enyimba FC, facing Ghanian champions Madeama and Lybia's Al Ahly Benghazi respectively, from this weekend on the 20th and the next on the 26th of August.

The newly proposed resumption date for the League is reported to be the 9th of September, 2023, while the draws for fixtures will take place Thursday 17th of August.