Veteran Journalist and Chairman of Akwa United Football Club, Paul Bassey has disclosed that the League Management Company LMC has not paid the 20 Nigeria Professional Football League NPFL club owners since 2017 as controversy and reactions continue to trail the end of the 2019/2020 season.
Bassey who made the revelation in Uyo, said he has a problem with the LMC, on how they are running the league in the past three years.
In an interview with Inspiration 105.9FM in Uyo, Bassey said the LMC must look for investors to put money in the league.
The LMC was issued license in 2012 to “organize and regulate the top tier league for the purpose of organizing and promoting the league to meet global technical and commercial standards.
“My problem is with the LMC, if you set people together to run a league for you, they must look for investors,” Bassey said.
He said NPFL clubs in the past three years are sponsoring themselves to play matches, stating that LMC has not given any money to these teams.
“The problem we have is that for the past three years, clubs are sponsoring themselves to matches home and away, the LMC have not given a kobo to these clubs, that is why when people say government has no business running the league, that government should hands-off, but if government says they are not sponsoring the teams, football will die in Nigeria, if you want to phase government out of the league, it has to be a gradual process.
“For the past three years, LMC have not done anything, they will stay in Abuja and give instructions to teams. In January, we played six matches in one week, we are a government-owned club, we receive subventions at the end of the month which covers four matches in a month, yet LMC will tell you to go and play six matches, they will bring fixtures and call it a reschedule match, they don’t do anything.
Elder Paul Bassey calls on the League Management Company to give the opportunity to other bodies to manage the league if they cannot carry out their core mandate.
If they cannot manage the league, they should give others opportunity to try, in 2018 we had a problem, 2019 there was a problem and 2020 the same thing, if we continue like this, there is no way any investor will want to invest in this league.”
It could be recalled that the LMC announced in 2015/2016 season that the NPFL champions will receive forty million naira as prize money adding that 19 league clubs will share a total of N200m as cash reward for final position aside expelled Giwa FC.
Enyimba who emerged champions in 2014/2015 league season got thirty million naira as a prize money from the shared 150 million naira.
