With the Annual Congress of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) concluded during the week in Makurdi, Benue State, the match between champion of the 2007/2009 season, Kano Pillars and newcomer, Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) has been picked as the official opening match for the 2009/2010 campaign.
The decision to pick the match was ratified during the 26th sitting of the Premier League board on July 20.
The choice of the match between Kano Pillars and Shooting Stars scheduled for the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna, it was learnt, is due to the fact that last season’s official opening game was between Gateway Football Club and Warri Wolves at the M.K.O. Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta.
“The NPL had to pick the match between Kano Pillars and Shooting Stars as its official opening match for the season since it is holding in Kaduna. We want a situation whereby the matches are taken round the country since the Premier League is a national championship held on an annual basis. Last season, the game between Gateway Football Club and Warri Wolves was the official opening match and it was held in the western part of the country in Abeokuta, Ogun State and this time we have chosen a northern city,” an official of the Premier League board told our correspondent.
In a related development, the NPL has released fixtures for the first five weeks of the 2009/2010 Premier League season.
Also, the representatives of the 20 clubs taking part in next season’s campaign met with officials of the Premier League arbiter and agreed to tentatively fix the commencement date for the coming season August 29.
The date would be exactly one week after the Super Four would have taken place in Ilorin, Kwara State.
However, the date is subject to change, as an official believes that the NPL could be forced to move the date to second week of September that could result in the new season starting on September 12.
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