August 29 2021
By Olalekan Kilajolu
Chairman of the League Management Company, Mallam Shehu Dikko has attributed the recent unprecedented surge in transfers of some Nigerian professional football league players to foreign clubs to the availability of the League matches on Television and online platforms which is viewed across the world through the NPFL.TV platforms.
Dikko in an exclusive interview with www.ckdmedia.ng noted that clubs, scouts and agents across the world now have opportunity to watch the Nigeria professional football league matches both live across all media platforms and delayed through the catch-up services Integreted in the NPFL.TV Platform which enable them to professionally assessed the quality and potentials of the NPFL players hence the rush to request for the services of many of the players.
According to the LMC boss "Enyimba alone could earn huge revenues from player sales (as much as N800m to N1b) if all the deals they are working on comes through which could now see them break even and declare profits for the just concluded season. They have already grossed more than 50% of this projected figure from concluded deals they announced and the most important thing is that all these clubs have sell on clauses of like 20-30% from future sales of the players. So if this players do well abroad huge revenue stilll coming back to the league which can now be reinvested in developing the clubs, other players and indeed the league.” Dikko further enjoyed all clubs to adopt the Enyinba model to ensure they owned their players and thus substantial part of all the revenues on players sales comes to the clubs directly whenever the plates transfer abroad.
While harping on the need for all stakeholders to come together to further project the good image of the league, Shehu Dikko says the just concluded Nigerian professional Football league is the best the country has ever witnessed technically based on the statistics available. This according to him is as a result of the orientation and re-reorientation of players, administrators, match officials etc and as well as fans across the country to shun acts that will project the league in bad light and to focus on doing the correct things.
Akwa United emerge champions of the League, their first in history, breaking and setting all kinds of records in the process including the longest unbeaten record in a season thereby qualifying to represent Nigeria in CAF champions league alongside second placed Rivers United, while third placed Enyimba of Aba will join Aiteo Cup champions Bayelsa United to represent Nigeria in the CAF confederation Cup.
The LMC chairman, who is a member of CAF Orgnising Committee for InterClubs Competitions and Club Licensing Management and also Member of FIFA Football Stateholders Commitee as well as IFAB-FIFA Experts Panel concluded that it’s the hope of all stakeholders that the four Nigerian Representatives teams in the CAF competitions will translate their domestic form to the Continental competitions.