The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Premier League board, Tunji Babalola, tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI that it is difficult to stop young players exodus from the leagueIt came as a sudden decision to club owners when the Nigeria Premier League announced that the 2012 league season will start on January 7, 2012, with some of the coaches kicking against it because their teams will not have comprehensive pre-season activities.But the Executive Secretary of the NPL, Tunji Babalola, says the aim is to make up for the lost time due to the prolonged 2010/2011 season, which ended last month.He says, "The board of the NPL will not change the date because it is important that we start early and keep pace with the European league calendar. This is a season that would have started in August or September, but because of reasons we could not change, the final day of last season moved to November, which was unusual. "We have directed all the clubs to come to the NPL secretariat in Abuja to get their players registration materials. Pre-season activities like the congress and seminar will be held soon so that the club will be prepared for the new season.Babalola said NPL would go tough on teams that failed to prepare their stadium turf for the new season."In preparation for the new season, we have told the clubs to forward the name of their home ground to the secretariat so that we can inspect them. Matches will only be played on television-friendly pitches. We are making sure that we secure a sponsor before the season starts. This is because NPL wants to help the club generate money so that the payment of players and officials will not be delayed."On the displeasure expressed by some of the clubs about the new date, Babalola said there were measures already put in place to cushion the effect of starting early.He explained , "The NPL considered the pre-season activities of all the clubs before arriving at the date. We have suspended the idea of the Super Four so that clubs can concentrate on other activities to strengthen their team. "The Super Four is used to prepare participating clubs for the new season and money generated through the competition is donated to charity homes, but that will not be this time," adds Babalola.One of the major challenges of club football in Nigeria is that most clubs are owned by state governments and in the Premier League, 19 of the 20 teams belong to various states. Some have private stadium, while many are yet to build theirs despite the presence of a rule that mandates all clubs to have their own ground.The ES says it is difficult to force a state governor to embark on a project it has no means of funding. "Most clubs are sponsored by the government so it becomes difficult for the NPL to control the activities of these clubs. We would have loved that all the existing clubs have their own stadiums, but it is still difficult to enforce that rule. But I am sure that most state governments now have good pitches where their clubs play home matches."Part of the problems we are facing is inconsistency in the management of the clubs. Every successive government comes in with its own idea of running the club so the management and coaching staff change often. It is a situation that leads to slow development of the clubs and directly too, it affects the NPL programme and aspiration."While addressing allegation of match-fixing in the league, Babalola said it was difficult to institute a case against match officials and clubs involved, citing the unbelievable result Plateau United had over Kwara United.He said, "The 7-0 victory recorded by Plateau United over Kwara United was huge and unexpected but there was no evidence of match-fixing. In England, big clubs have conceded heavily this season and nobody raised an eyebrow. What it only means is that such team should strengthen the team and work on areas where there are lapses."Match-fixing is a very sensitive issue that is difficult to determine. However, I am not saying that if there is enough evidence for investigation, the NPL will turn a blind eye. Kwara might have conceded the goals because they were not fit at the time, while Plateau were driven by the urge to escape relegation. I am sure that the match-fixing rumour arose because the result was recorded at a time many teams were fighting relegation," he says. With hundreds of young players leaving the country for greener pastures in smaller leagues around the world, clubs no longer have star players that can attract the crowd, resulting in matches being played in empty stadiums."It is difficult to stop young players moving abroad to play in smaller leagues. Our economy must improve to achieve that. This is not a problem solely associated with football; health, education, technology and other professions are experiencing brain drain. Players will stop moving abroad when they earn good salary in Nigerian clubs."Restating the boards commitment to help clubs raise money and improve the financial status of the NPL, Babalola confirmed that Total Promotion had won the title sponsorship right of the league. "Total Promotion is one of our partners last season and the NPL board has awarded title sponsorship right to the company. There is no controversy in the decision. The company is in charge of the league now," he adds."We had a series of litigation last season and they affected the NPLs quest to have a sponsor for the league. This is a sad development, but we are trying as much as possible to move the competition on. Throughout the world, clubs benefit greatly from fees generated through title sponsorship. But conflict has denied our clubs of the benefit. "
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