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By Abiodun Adewale.
As followers of the Nigeria Professional Football League continue to await the new season of topflight football in the country, the Interim Management Committee has promised to match their word with action in their bid to raise the standard of the league.
Chief Operating Officer of IMC, Davison Owumi, while fielding questions after the money-spinning NPFL-DOZY Mmobuosi Super Cup pre-season tournament in Lagos, revealed that the IMC had been working to perfect the conditions of restarting the league.
“We are trying to make sure that when we start the league, we won’t have hiccups. So, the delays are very necessary for now, but we will get there.
“After the interface with the clubs, the IMC chairman came out with a position on how we want the league to be and that is our position till date. We are just trying to tick all the boxes, so, that when we start, we won’t have any problem.”
Owumi also hinted that the IMC will continue its rewarding partnership with Dozy Mmobuosi Foundation, but was however mute on the reported N1bn guarantee from an unnamed bank ahead of the new season.
“We are working on a very progressive sponsorship package, but I wouldn’t know whether we’ve got any N1bn from any bank,” Owumi added.
“This is supposed to be a preamble, and I think we will take the relationship between both parties to the next level and hopefully it will be very good for the game.
“The mandate of IMC is to get a sponsor before we take off, so we must put these things together before we announce a kickoff date. And these are things that will open up more commercial spaces for the NPFL,” Owumi said.
President, Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, who was also in Lagos for the grande finale of the pre-season tournament, assured that the NFF would give the league body and the clubs the necessary support to succeed.
“I must commend the IMC for this partnership, and we hope to see more because we know it will bring a lot of changes to our football, especially for the clubs to be self-sustaining and also to invest in infrastructure and other areas.
“Very soon, before the end of year, the league will commence and Nigerians will see what we are going to do. As I assure them, I will do my best to make sure that we have a league that everyone will be proud of. It’s going to be a gradual process and we will get to where we are supposed to be,” Gusau told Sunday PUNCH.