Saturday, 20 February 2016

#BuyNaijaToGrowTheNaira: What You need to know about Nigeria Premier League(NPL) by Elemeje Bright



                                                                    
In the spirit of the social media initiatives of #BuyNaijaToGrowTheNaira I would love to sell to you the Nigeria Premier League(NPL).
With the NPL set to kick of on the 21st of February 2016 and a few of many that would hopefully start and finish as proposed, man Nigerian football lovers clamor for a synchronization with the European league calendar a fate yet to be achieved but quite visible in the nearest future. We take a look t the prominent features and improvements that could make the NPL a force to reckon with as evident in the Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Chinese League.

FC Ifeanyi Ubah: The Southampton of the NPL as I love to refer to them, made a major move in the transfer window for a club that just gained promotion to the top flight 2 years ago by acquiring the service of eight Brazilians ; six players and two coaches. A move that would for sure substantially increase the visual appeal of the league as fans and media would flock to watch the Brazilians that might potentially dominant the league.

FC Ifeanyi Ubahs new signings

League Incentives: With the curtain drawn on the title league sponsor from the telecommunication giant Globacom Nigeria (GLO). The League Management Company (LMC) have structed a plan to accommodate various sponsors on different fronts to sponsor the league and a list that is gathered from source to involve big ames such as Zenith Bank and Etisalat. Incentives include cash prize for clubs that field players of ages 18 and below, clubs that secure an away win or draw an 100% increase as to previous amount been paid which is now N500,000 and N200000 respectively. A couple of pundits believe that the former would encourage player and team to indulge in age cheat but at least the latter is believed to better structure and fairness of the league, which in the past was nothing to write home about. Evidence can be seen in a banter posted by the FIFA official twitter account of the 2012 league table where the league winners could only scarp an away victory.

Fans Misconducts and Match Fixing: elaborate meetings, good management, positive attitude and sprits shown by the LMC; club boards and management, match officials, coaches and technical staffs, players and fans of the NPL at large. It is safe to say the 2016 season promises to be the beginning of a great era in the NPL that would not be degraded by various corruptions and misconducts of the past as officials and fans have promised to be of best behaviors. Wahab Bankole of sunshine stars of akure spoke on the pain felt by the fans of the Owena waves not been able to support their team at the akure township stadium which led to the log slip of the team and promises that the fans plan on righting their wrongs now that the ban is lifted.
One can only hope and pray that the professional football league would take a radical turn for good, as it can serve as a propellant for the country economy boost  as it serves as one of the major facet of England economy and can be of advantage to this country Nigeria .



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