10 things you need to know as new Nigeria premier league season kicks off today
The 2022/2023 season of the Nigeria football league season will kick off today , Sunday , January 8 with the match between Akwa United and Bendel Insurance.
However, in a bid to keep you abreast of the new season, The informant247 have compiled some of the basic information about the league.
1. New management: The Nigeria league is currently being managed and administered by a body called Interim Management committee (IMC). The body was set up after the scrapping of the former body, League Management Company (LMC) by the federal government of Nigeria which was sequel to the declaration of the LMC as an ‘illegal body by the court’.
2. Change of Name: formerly known as the Nigeria Professional Football League, the new name for the league has now been changed to Nigeria Premier Football League by the IMC.
3. 20 teams: A total number of 20 teams will be participating in the league.
4. Format: The new season will be played as an abridged-league against the normal format of a straight-league. In view of the ensuing format, the 20 teams have been divided to teams in two groups of A and B.
5. Current champions: Rivers United are the defending champions of the Nigeria league.
6. Newly promoted sides: Four teams were promoted to the league from the second division – they are; Bendel Insurance ( Edo State) ;Doma United (Gombe State) ; Bayelsa United(Bayelsa State) and El Kanemi Warriors ( Borno State).
7. Five teams without an approved stadium:
Following the approval of match venues for the 2023 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season by the Interim Management Committee (IMC), five of the 20 clubs in the Nigerian top flight will play their home matches away from home this season
According to the IMC, this comes as a result of the official stadiums of Kwara United, Niger Tornadoes, Lobi Stars, Nasarawa United and Rangers International, failing to meet the infrastructure requirements standard.
8. Grants: 10 million naira each was given to all the 20 clubs participating in the league by the IMC as the take off grants.
9. Super Six(6) to determine the winner: A super six tournament which will involve the top three teams from each group at the end of the day will be held to determine the eventual winner of the league.
10. Prize money: The winner of the league will take home 100 million naira as the prize money
GROUP A
Kwara United
Nasarawa United
Plateau United
Gombe United
El-Kanemi Warriors
Enyimba FC
Akwa United
Bendel Insurance
Shooting Stars
Remo Stars
GROUP B
Niger Tornadoes
Doma United
Wikki Tourists
Lobi Stars
Rivers United
Abia Warriors
Dakkada FC
Rangers Int’l
Sunshine Stars
Bayelsa United
The only match for this week will hold today, Sunday between Akwa United and Bendel Insurance with the full fixtures expected to start next weekend.
Next season: The 2023/2024 football season is expected to kick off in August of 2023
