Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Gbenga Elegbeleye has called on the clubs and match referees to stay true to the spirit and letters of football rules.
Elegbeleye, who commended the clubs for improved performances of their players as reflected in the quality of play and competitiveness of the matches, urged them to keep the league free of bad blood on and off the field.
“We have had a fairly great season with improvements in quality of play and standard of the teams. It is important that we complete the last six games devoid of controversy and unnecessary disputes capable of ridiculing the game in the eyes of the football World”, he told npfl.com.
Elegbeleye, who is also the 2nd Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), warned referees against incompetence and bias in officiating matches.
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“We witnessed overall fantastic officiating for most of the completed fixtures, and I want to commend the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) for the good job their members did so far,” remarked the League chief,” he added.
“The NPFL and the NFF have shown from the start of the season that there is no place for poor officiating in the league and we are not relenting as the monitoring will be intensified and anyone found wanting will be delisted swiftly.
“We are looking at ways to reward outstanding Referees as a way of motivating our crop of Match officials and at the appropriate time, this will be unveiled.”
The season was paused after Matchday 32 to allow Rivers United complete backlog of games that accumulated due to their involvement in the CAF Confederation Cup.
The campaign will resume with matchday 34 games on Sunday.
