Nigeria League Halted, as Referees Withdraw Services

• Referees move to boycott NPFL matches with effect from this weekend’s fixture
• LMC suspends Glo Premier League
• The NFF crisis has created an atmosphere of uncertainty in Nigeria football
• Top-flight and Division two leagues halted after 25 round of matches

The Nigeria league have been suspended, beginning this weekend, after referees decided they will boycott matches due to the “uncertainty in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)”.

The Nigeria football family has been split into discordant factions, following the controversial election of Chris Giwa as the new president of the NFF on Tuesday.

Nigeria Football Federation.
Nigeria Football Federation.
The antecedent of the crisis in the NFF could be traced to the prevention of key officials from attending the general assembly through the detention of the president, Aminu Maigari, and two other top officials, Musa Amadu and Chris Green.

Earlier on Thursday, the Nigeria Referee Association (NRA), in a statement signed by its secretary general Moroof Oyekunle Oluwa, directed all its members to withdraw from matches in the Nigeria Premier League, the Nigeria National League, Nigeria Nation-Wide League, Nigeria Women League and the Nigeria Federation Cup “with immediate effect pending when sanity is restored”.

On this account, the League Management Company (LMC) has conclude it will be “impossible to organise league games”, with the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and the National League each in their 25th week.

A statement from the LMC chief operating officer, Salihu Abubakar, read: “The decision is in the light of the notice of withdrawal of services by the Nigerian Referees Association which makes it impossible for us to organise games.”

The LMC said the clubs and the sponsorship partners have already been advised of the development with clubs told not to travel to match venues of their respective games until further communication.

Abubakar further pleaded with the parties involved to ensure the crises be resolved amicably to restore a peaceful environment for the league to run as and at when due.

“We are already running a tight schedule and are hoping that this crisis is reolved soon so the season can be concluded in time for our clubs to prepare for continental registration and participation,” the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, there are fresh speculations that the State FAs have announced they will not be providing security and any other logistic support until further notice. More so that the Club Owners Association- umbrella body of the 20 participating league clubs- have also decided to halt their teams from league matches.

Defending champions Kano Pillars lead the Nigeria top-flight league with 43 points.