By Okechukwu Emmanuel
Secretary to the Clubs Owners Association, Alloy Chukwuemeka has said that the 2020/2021 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) kickoff has been delayed so as to ensure that all the clubs involved in the competition start the season at the same time.
Reports flying in the media had it that the new season would commence this weekend across the state, but the League Management Company (LMC), organizers of the competition, a few days ago announced it would now begin on the 13th of December.
Secretary to the Club Owners Association, Aloy Chukwuemeka, explained yesterday in a chat with Sports 247, that the decision to delay the kickoff was to allow clubs playing in continental competitions to complete their first-round games so as to ensure that all the clubs start the season equally.
“We don’t want a repeat of what happened in the past that questioned the integrity of the league. The clubs and organizers agreed to the delay to ensure that outstanding matches do not interrupt the scheduling of the games.
“We want to ensure that all the clubs, as much as possible, begin and end the competition at the same time,” he said.
Plateau United, Enyimba, Rivers United, and Kano Pillars are the four (4) club sides representing Nigeria in continental competitions.
While Plateau United and Enyimba are in the CAF Champions League, Rivers United and Kano Pillars are in the Confederation Cup.
Chukwuemeka said the LMC and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) would meet early next week to ratify the league kickoff and agree on other outstanding issues, adding that an official statement on the competition would be made after the meeting.
 kickoff has been delayed so as to ensure that all the clubs involved in the competition start the season at the same time.){kind=link}