Governing Bodies
NPFL @30: NIGERIA’S LONG WINDING PATH TO PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
On this date, 12 May 1990, professional football kicked off in Nigeria. It was a product of many years of agitations.
In the opening season, 16 club sides were paired in the first professional league fixtures in the country.
Professional football had kicked off in Nigeria 102 years after England pioneered the venture worldwide.
By 1989, the year preceding Nigeria’s adoption of professional football, the venture had virtually swept across the globe. What could not be imagined some years back were unfolding.
No fewer than six Eastern bloc countries of former Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, East Germany and the defunct Soviet Union had surprisingly dropped amateurism.
Even the Olympic Movement was not left out as amateurism was fading out rapidly. Professionalism has now become the bedrock of the movement, which only a decade earlier could not boast of having more than $100,000 to run its affairs.
By early 1990s, the International Olympic Committee measured its reserves in million dollars, thanks to the influx of sponsors. Juan Antonio Samaranch had transformed it into a big commercial enterprise.
In response to posers on the increasing professionalism of sports in the Olympic movement, Samaranch remarked that it underscored the importance of the games.
In Nigeria, the early agitation for professional football was perhaps in the 1950s. Initially, the argument was on the pros and cons.
But stronger voices seemed against it. Derby Allen, who later became the NFA chairman, for instance argued that the football industry would take more than it offered. The scale of organisation and capital investment for professional football to thrive were lacking.
Derby Allen in the Sunday Times of 20 September 1953, offered such argument against professional football. He doubted the ability of clubsides to obtain suitable ground sufficiently large enough and equipped to accommodate thousands of spectators.
In the Lagos area, the only ground of note was the King George V Stadium (now Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan), which could hold a tightly packed 12,000 people.
The value of terracing and facilities was estimated at £20,000. The paucity of facilities was also the strong point of argument against professional football, even up to the 1980s.
Allen argued further that managing the professional players, grounds men, manager, treasurer, trainers and other staff would be too much for the prospective clubs to bear.
A typical wage bill of each club was £6,209 per month. With other expenses like rent of ground and other operational costs, each club was computed to likely spend £16,000 annually and make about £8,000, leaving annual loss of the same amount. Such clubs would be too few and far apart.
Most antagonists up till 1980s subscribed to the arguments. Clubs were expected to seek other means of generating funds like the Egyptian teams, which were run as semi-professional outfits.
The Al-Ahly of Cairo printed out 120,000 copies of its magazine weekly to supplement earnings from gate takings. Besides, each of the 15,000 associate members at the time, yearly paid one thousand Egyptian pounds.
Protagonists held that professionalism was the answer to the apparent dwindling standard of the game. Coach Peter ‘Eto’ Amaechina told the Sunday Times of 2 September 1969, that Nigeria could not make a World Cup standard without adopting professional football.
He was to be proved right as Nigeria’s debut in the World Cup was immediately after the commencement of the professional league.
Ameachina recalled then that only one non-professional football country, Sweden, in 1958 ever played the World Cup final.
Jasper Philips, treasurer of LAFA for many years, maintained in 1963 that Nigeria should go professional.
His lofty idea was that 3,000 sports-minded Nigerians should contribute £10 each to raise a £30,000 Trust Fund to begin the venture.
Louis Edet, the NFA chairman, loved the idea, but doubted the implementation, as professionalism would rob Nigeria the opportunities to feature in some international competitions.
“There is currently no professional football in Africa, and barring African Cups, a team of professionals in Nigeria can’t take part in Olympics, West African Gold Cup and the Nnamdi Azikiwe Cup played by Nigeria and Ghana”, argued Edet.
He stated further that such debarment also applied to friendly matches. “It will therefore require more than £30,000 trust fund to maintain a professional team which can’t play many matches and bring money from the gates to reinforce the trust fund”, Edet concluded.
The argument sounded plausible, especially recalling past experience.
FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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The supporters of Vancouver Whitecaps, a professional football (soccer) club in Canada, have staged a protest outside the FIFA Congress on Thursday, voicing fears that the Major League Soccer club could be relocated as uncertainty deepens over its ownership and long-term future.
The club is one of Canada’s most historic football institutions and has long been a central part of Vancouver’s sporting identity.
Around 100 fans gathered as delegates arrived for the annual FIFA meeting in Vancouver, chanting, singing and waving club flags in a show of solidarity. The demonstration comes just days after Vancouver Whitecaps FC revealed difficulties in securing a buyer willing to keep the club in the city.
The Whitecaps disclosed earlier this week that “stadium economics, venue access and revenue limitations” have complicated efforts to sell the club, despite a 16-month search for new ownership.
Season ticket holder Derek Hawksworth said supporters felt compelled to act amid growing fears of relocation.
“I wanted to come down given the threat of the team possibly moving,” he said. “It’s a rich history with the Whitecaps in North America… we want Vancouver to stay and not relocate. The history is here, and we want to continue with that history moving forward.”
The Vancouver Whitecaps are a professional football (soccer) club based in Vancouver, Canada. They currently compete in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top-tier league in the United States and Canada.
Concerns were heightened by reports that cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix are leading contenders should the club relocate.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has urged intervention, calling on the provincial government — which owns BC Place — to negotiate a “bridge deal” that would allow the team to remain while plans for a new stadium are explored. The club’s current lease at BC Place expires at the end of the year.
Despite the off-field uncertainty, the Whitecaps have been one of the standout teams this MLS season. They currently sit second in the Western Conference with 24 points from nine matches, just three points behind the San Jose Earthquakes.
For supporters, however, performances on the pitch offer little comfort as the future of their club hangs in the balance — a situation they hope global football leaders gathering in Vancouver will not ignore.
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