NPFL 2022/23 winner to get prize money as 3SC receive N100m

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The chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye, has disclosed that the winner and runners-up of the apex will get prize money at the end of the season.

Elegbeleye stated this at the presentation of N100 million cheque to the winners of the recently concluded Dozy Mmobuosi Super Cup tournament, Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan in Abuja on Tuesday evening.

According to him, Nigeria can go all the way to the World Cup semi-final like Morocco if the domestic league is properly run, players are well motivated and the right things are put in place. 

“We’re trying to put in place mechanism where players in the league will be receiving a minimum of N1m monthly salary in the next one or two years.

“We need to go back to the days when the national team was dominated by players from the domestic league. We have done it before when Nigeria won the 1980 Nations Cup with almost 80 or 90 per cent of our domestic footballers,” he said.

He said the IMC is working to make the domestic league buoyant and lucrative where clubs can have more money and players paid handsomely for their efforts. 

He added that it should be the duty of the league body to pay referee indemnities and not the clubs to promote fair officiating. 

Elegbeleye reiterated that the IMC used the NPFL-Dozy Mmobuosi Super Cup pre-season tournament to show Nigerians that the Nigerian league can still attract sponsors and partners adding, “We also want to show Nigerians that administrators of the game can be trusted if the right people are put in place.”

The former NSC director general  said the IMC has been able to source money to pay match officials’ indemnities for the entire season adding that the IMC is doing everything possible to deliver a hitch-free season and produce winners that will do Nigeria proud in the continent.

Speaking earlier, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the IMC, Davidson Owumi, in his remarks, called for support from every stakeholder to take Nigerian football to the desired height. He said what the IMC has done was to encourage corporate organisations to support the Nigerian domestic league which he said is the foundation of the country’s football. 

“We are trying to encourage the corporate world to see what it takes to encourage our domestic football which is the foundation of our football. Once it’s well articulated then we don’t have a problem in the international scene.

Accepting t the N100 million cheque, the chairman, of 3SC, Honourable Babatunde Olaniyan beaming with smiles thanked the organisers of the Super Cup and IMC for organising the competition saying the club will make judicious use of the money by investing in facility development of the club.

“Our appreciation goes to IMC and the sponsor of the tournament Dozy Mmobuosi for investing in football and I pray they continue and reap the rewards of their investments.