Three month ago the 2018 NPFL season was paused for the sake of the World Cup but long after France became World Champions, the resumption of the NPFL never came to past. The failure to resume the league will be attributed to the NFF leadership saga between Chris Giwa and Amaju Pinnick that almost got Nigeria banned by FIFA. It took the intervention of the vice president et al to evade the hammer from FIFA but the proposed date to resume had been passed.

The LMC, in conjunction with the Club Owners decided to conclude the 2018 NPFL season after 24 Matchdays played and 14 more to go. This was due to the impossibility of concluding the 2018 league before CAF’s deadline of October 15 to submit names of club to participate in the 2018/19 CAF Club competitions.

The LMC had initially planned to end the season in September 2018 but scheduling 14 Matchdays to meet an October 15 deadline would be too demanding for the players who are the main actors. While the deadline was to present a representative and not to finish the league, the LMC could have still finished league and presented the table topper as at the date of the deadline or even ignore the CAF club competition for next season while we fix our house.

The choice to end the league after 24 matchdays gave way to finishing the AITEO Cup before October 15. While the decision to end the league is not welcomed by many, the idea of presenting a champion via the AITEO Cup is not as bad as initially thought. But it places more emphasis on the Cup compared to the league. The winner of the AITEO cup will represent Nigeria in the 2018/19 CAF Confederation Cup while Lobi Stars – although not declared champions – will represent Nigeria in the 2018/19 CAF Champions League.

Next season is expected to start in November 2018 and there will be 24 teams in the NPFL. The season will be abridged with 12 teams per group. The bottom three teams from each of the group will be relegated while a total of 2 teams will be promoted from the NNL. Hopefully, this fixes the football calendar to align with CAF’s new calendar and FIFA’s.

The draws for the AITEO Cup were made on Thursday and Round of 64 matches will be played between September 9 and 11. See full fixtures below:

• Smart City (of Lagos) vs Abia Warriors
• Rivers United vs Gusau Eleven (of Zamfara)
• Wasiu Alabelewe (of Osun) vs Enyimba Int’l
• Sokoto United vs MFM FC
• Yobe Desert FC vs DMD FC
• Akwa United vs Hope of Glory (of Calabar)
• Zabgai FC (of Bauchi) vs Plateau United
• Gombe United vs Dynamite FC (of Edo)
• Kano Pillars Feeders vs Crown FC
• Nyasagwana FC (of Taraba) vs FC Ifeanyi Ubah
• Ngwa FC (of Abakaliki) vs Kano Pillars
• Doma United (of Gombe) vs J. Atete (of Delta)
• Dan Masari FC (of Kebbi) vs GO Round FC
• Confine FC (of Akwa Ibom) vs Heartland FC
• George Turnah (of Yenagoa) vs Nasarawa United
• Katsina Feeders FC vs Jigawa Golden Stars
• Aklosendi FC (of Nasarawa) vs FRSC FC (of Abuja)
• Delta Stars FC vs Kogi United FC
• Samba FC (of Jigawa) vs El Kanemi
• Bayelsa United FC vs Fasbir FC (of Sokoto)
• Bendel Insurance FC vs Remo Stars Junior
• Ekiti United FC vs Mighty Jets (of Jos)
• FC Minda (of Gboko) vs Osun United FC
• Chief of Staff (of Yola) vs Niger Tornadoes
• Shooting Stars vs Supreme Court
• Sunshine Stars vs FC Ifeanyi Ubah Feeders
• ABS Ilorin FC vs Kebbi United FC
• Lobi Stars vs Standard FC (of Kaduna)
• Rangers Int’l FC vs Niger Tornadoes Feeders
• Wikki Tourist FC vs Crime Busters (of Enugu)
• Kwara United FC vs All Stars FC (of Abeokuta)
• Katsina United vs Madagali United

AITEO Cup dates to keep in mind

• Round of 64 – Sunday, 9th September
• Round of 32 – Sunday, 16th September
• Group Stage (16 qualified teams to play in 4 centres) – 24th – 28th September
• Quarter Finals – Wednesday, 3rd October
• Semi Finals – Sunday, 7th October
• Grand Finale – Sunday, 14th October

While we were on break, Nigeria went to the World Cup, crashed out of the group stage, Enyimba FC qualified for the Quarter Finals of the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup, the U17 AFCON Qualifiers began, and Nigeria defeated Seychelles 3-0 in Victoria to record their first points in the 2019 AFCON Qualifiers.

Stay with Nigerian Football.

AmosCP