Reigning Glo Premier League champions Kano Pillars have become the first Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side to comply with the 2013/14 season registration requirement of providing a financial performance guarantee.
On Wednesday March 26, the Kano State-owned football team- in a letter to the League Management Company (LMC) dated March 17, 2014- attached a Performance Guarantee for N25 million (over £91, 500) from a Fidelity Bank Plc, Kano Branch with reference number FB/007/OBG/0314/1034.
It represents Pillars’ first provision of the quarterly guarantee of the total amount of N100m under the season’s licensing requirements.
“We are delighted by the development, Kano Pillars have demonstrated a capacity to operate as a professional football club in more ways and it is our expectation that other clubs will do same and avoid the consequences of late or non-compliance,” LMC chairman Hon. Nduka Orabor commended the ‘Sai Masugida’.
The LMC had prior to the start of the ongoing campaign reduced the N100m total sum of the performance guarantee to a quarterly renewable provision of N25m for ease of operations and administration for the participating clubs.
Clubs where hitherto mandated to provide their N25m performance guarantee sum- renewable every quarter- on or before Match Day 9’of the season.
Failure to adhere by the provision is tantamount to a reduction of six points and six goals in the defaulting clubs’ already accrued points.
Meanwhile the issue of clubs’ failure to pay-up players’ salary is now a thing of the past as NPFL clubs are required to deposit signed copies of each player’s contract at the point of registration to the professionals no longer play without a valid contract.
“We will go further to demand that payments are made to the players bank account. Cash transactions are to be abolished. Clubs have been directed to open salary accounts for each player .This way, we will ensure that no club owes or under pays their staff”, Irabor explained.
