THE Nigeria Professional Football League has been renamed the Nigeria Premier Football League, with the new season beginning today.
The league was on break for five months as the League Management Company was dissolved and replaced with the Interim Management Committee, and the new season will be in an abridged format.
The 20 clubs in the league have been split into two groups of 10 each, with the shortened campaign to last from today until May.
All 20 clubs were initially scheduled to be in action this weekend but, following a dispute between the IMC and the representatives of the club owners, a compromise was reached, with only one game to be held today.
The opening fixture, the only game today, is between Akwa United and newly promoted Bendel Insurance at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo this afternoon.
The rest of the Matchday 1 fixtures have been shifted to next week for ‘logistic reasons’.
To determine the champions and continental representatives, the top three teams from each group will be involved in playoffs at the end of the regular season.
The IMC has promised that the NPFL will be back on television after years of it not being broadcast live.
IMC Chairman Gbenga Elegbeleye also revealed that there will be a N100 million prize for the champions at the end of the campaign.
Each of the 20 clubs has been given a take-off grant of N10m, according to the IMC.
