By Gracious Akujobi The League Management Company (LMC) has said it would implement existing minimum conditions for participation by clubs in the Glo Premier League before determining a date for the kick-off of the 2013/14 league season.
Chairman of LMC, Nduka Irabor made this disclosure in reaction to speculations on the kick-off date for the new season, saying that the proposed minimum conditions have been designed to meet the twin-objectives of ensuring compliance by the clubs with extant regulations of the league and to prepare the professional league clubs for the November 30th 2014 deadline set by CAF for compliance with the mandatory national club licensing regulations.
He said, “The areas that is covered by the regulation includes but is not limited to evidence of incorporation as a limited liability company, proof of compliance with the N100, 000 minimum wage for players, payment of overdue to players, coaches and other personnel, bank guarantee as evidence of capacity to meet financial obligations and undertaken to set up structure for youth development”.
Irabor explained the philosophy involved in the design of the minimum conditions, “the principle involved in setting the minimum club licensing conditions is that participation in a professional sport or league has to be licensed.
“In this respect, the minimum conditions are designed in such a manner that clubs of NPFL which have been playing professional football for many seasons before now can readily satisfy the conditions. For the avoidance of doubt, clubs can refer to the existing regulations that have governed the professional league since inception”.
He noted that some African countries are already substantially complying with the 2-phased roadmap designed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and counseled that “we cannot afford to lag behind in implementing the licensing system”.
Irabor expressed delight at the progress made by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) at completing work on the national club licensing regulations and described the minimum conditions proposed by the LMC for clubs as “a complement to the work of NFF meant to prepare clubs for the regulations and facilitate the implementation of the licensing system in Nigeria”.
The LMC Chairman said club licensing will be conducted every season, adding that the requisite document for the registration completion will be provided to the clubs.
