The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season, is now scheduled begin on January 8, 2023, the chairman of Interim Manamagenet Committee, Gbenga Elegbeleye has disclosed.
The new NPFL season kick off earlied planned for December 28 this year, will now happen early in January next year - seven months after the 2021/2022 league campaign ended in July.
The kick off delays is happening following the Interim Management Committee (IMC) establishment to rebrand the league which has remained stagnant for years due to bad management and insufficient finance has been holding meetings with key stakeholders to discuss how to improve the league.
The new date was reached at the end of yet another meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, where the IMC finally came to the conclusions that the draws for 2022/2023 NPFL Season will hold on December 28.
Before the January 8 kick off, the IMC also assured that all 20 teams participating in the 2022/2023 NPFL season will be given N10m as takeoff grants ahead of the new football season.
Despite facing some oppositions to the idea, the IMC and the clubs also agreed to go ahead with an abridged league format as against the usual full season format that has been used over the years.
Rivers United will see to defend the title they won earlier in July, having recorded 23 wins, drew eight, and lost seven of 38 games as they claimed the 2021-22 league title with 10 points gap of closest rivals, Plateau United.
The Port Harcourt-based club lifted the title in July after ending the season with 77 points, breaking the league record of 73 points in a league campaign.
Stanley Eguma's side are the only Nigerian club left in the CAF Inter-clubs competitions, having reached the group stage of the Caf Confederation Cup after dropping from the Champions League at the early stages.
The other three Nigerian representatives were Plateau United in the Champions League and Remo Stars and Kwara United in the Confederation Cup could not make it to the group phase of various inter-clubs competitions.
