Indications have emerged that club officials in the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) are divided over plans by the former title sponsor, Globacom Nigeria Limited, to pay N350 million instead of the whole of N923 million from last season’s fee.
Naijaligue.blogspot.com understands that ahead of the Premier League congress billed to hold in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, some clubs are disputing that the sum of N350 million should not be accepted.
A top official in the NPL secretariat hinted that after a meeting between the Club Owners Association of Nigeria (Coan) and the sports minister, Professor Taoheed Adedoja, it was said the former title sponsor is ready to pay only N350 million from almost N1 billion of the debt it owes from the title sponsorship for the 2009/2010 season.
When the representatives of the NPL club owners communicated the outcome of the meeting with the sports minister to other owners, a number of them demanded that the N350 million is acceptable while others frowned at the bargain.
It has been learned that the representatives of the 20 clubs are in Abuja and a number of them are locked in a meeting ahead of the NPL congress billed to hold on Wednesday just as the Premier League board convened another meeting over the same issue on Tuesday.
The clubs demanding that the N923 million are angry that the NPL was hoodwinked into accepting a N100 million loan from a bank (name withheld) allegedly belonging to the title sponsor.
The NPL has already incurred an interest of more than N120 million on the loan it collected last term from the said bank.
Even if the NPL is paid the title sponsorship of N923 million, it will have to cough out the sum of over N200 million for the loan as well as pay up several debts running into millions of naira.
This is now the bone of contention of some club representatives, who do not want their names mentioned by Naijaligue.blogspot.com in order not to be used as scapegoats by the influential representatives in the club owners’ body running the show.
Already, Naijaligue.blogspot.com learned that the ranks have been broken among club representatives ahead of Wednesday meeting.
According to an official of a northern club representing his side in the congress, the outcome of NPL assembly could sway in favour of accepting or rejecting the N350 million as at Tuesday afternoon.
But the club official believes that nocturnal meetings expected to hold among the top shots of the club owners from Tuesday to Wednesday morning could sway the decision leading to the acceptance of the N350 million bait dangled at the NPL.
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