What appears to be another crisis may be brewing in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), following a declaration by the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), to resist what it terms as ‘slave contract’ being tabled before the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
The chairman of PFAN Task Force, Harrison Jalla, revealed, yesterday, that there are alleged moves by a Chinese company, working in collaboration with some Nigerian businessmen and with some club owners and board members of the NPFL, to mount undue pressure on NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, to accept a slave contract of 10 years duration in the first instance for the acquisition of part of NPFL broadcast right.
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“Let us remind the Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye-led NPFL board that some stakeholders, including myself, laid down their lives to wrestle the NPFL out of the suffocating grip of the defunct League Management Company (LMC) with the unflinching support of the former minister of sports, Sunday Dare,” Jalla stated.
“And more so, the NPFL board should be properly guided to understand that the players bloc are co-owners of all the commercial properties and rights of the NPFL. From all indications, the NPFL and GTI partnership is a work in progress. It would be foolhardy at this stage to rush into any under-the-table slave contract. What is the value of the NPFL broadcast right at the time Supersports pulled out? That should be the starting point for fresh negotiation as the NPFL/GTI partnership progresses.
“The main plank of the NPFL/GTI partnership is to avoid the pitfalls of slave contracts and keep the NPFL running until all its properties are disposed of at the appropriate commercial value to ensure financial independence of all the NPFL clubs. We cannot afford to go back to the past where personal interest is the order of the day. The Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye-led board must be given maximum support by all stakeholders to continue their good job,” Jalla stated.
