Izuchukwu OkosiThe Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) have announced that the 2023/2024 league season will officially kick off on Saturday, 30 September 2023 across the federation after the start of the campaign was pushed back, reports Prime Business Africa.
The season was initially expected to begin in August but it suffered a postponement as the clubs were yet to meet pre – season criteria in terms of stadia readiness and logistical reasons.
In a letter dated Monday, September 25, 2023, Davidson Owumi, the Chief Operating Officer also notified the 20 participating Clubs that the champions of the season would receive ₦150m which is a 50% increase from last season’s prize money.
Another highlight of the letter to the clubs is the payment of start-off grants of a total of ₦200m to the 20 clubs.
“The 20 clubs will, as was done last season receive a take-off grant of Ten Million Naira (₦10,000,000) each to smoothen your operations as the season starts.
“We are therefore expecting the Clubs to as a matter of urgency forward their respective account details to the NPFL Secretariat for the transfer of the said amount as the season is set to commence on Saturday, September 30, 2023”, Owumi stated in the letter addressed to all Club Chairmen and General Managers.
On the prize money, the letter read; “after due deliberations by the Chairman and our Strategic Partners, it was agreed that the Prize money, since that is what connotes the true value of the league, be reviewed upwards to ₦150million”.
The letter also addressed some of the Marketing concerns and assured the clubs that the NPFL Board would at all times take decisions and enter into contracts that serves the best interest of the league and the clubs.
“Be rest assured that we will at all times be guided by the very best interest of our league and by implication, the participating Clubs”, the COO explained while adding that discussions are still ongoing with a company that proposed a ten-year partnership for broadcast rights.
“We remain very hopeful that they or other prospective partners will show up since talks are still ongoing. Any success achieved, will enlarge the economic frontiers of the league and by extension the clubs as we progress”, he concluded.
Enyimba Football Club of Aba became the NPFL champions for the 2022/2023 season after their victory in the Super 6 Playoffs which was held in July at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos.
The People’s Elephant were Nigeria’s representatives in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League along with Remo Stars but both were eliminated meaning no Nigerian side will be in the group stages of the competition.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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