A sports administrator,
Silas Agara, has faulted the demand by the League Management Committee (LMC) that each premier league club provide a N100 million bank guarantee for the new season.
Agara, who is the Special Adviser on Sports Development to Nasarawa State’s Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, said the demand could cripple the clubs’ participation in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
“The demand is very wrong because state governments are not making profit from the clubs. Rather, they are spending good money to run the clubs.
“How many states can effectively provide that money? We can’t compare what we are doing in the Nigerian Premier League with what is happening in the English Premier League (EPL),’’ he said.
Agara, a former Nasarawa State Sports Commissioner, said Nasarawa United Football Club of Lafia for example, which is one of NPFL’s 20 clubs, could find it difficult to meet LMC’s demand.
He said clubs in the EPL, which he said the LMC were trying to copy, have very many opportunities to make money, unlike their NPFL counterparts.
“There are lots of commercial rights in the English Premier League which a club can make profits from. A club can recoup its money even before the end of the season.
“But how many clubs in Nigeria today can come and tell you that they make N100,000 from gate-takings from one match?” Agara said.
He said EPL clubs even spend money to buy their jerseys for some of their sponsors to print their logos on them.
Agara pointed out that a lot of issues needed to be sorted out before such ideas could work in the country.
The LMC had said the new league season might not start unless the clubs meet some conditions.
These conditions include the provision of a bank guarantee of N100 million.
LMC had said only the clubs which meet the N100 million bank guarantee demand and the FIFA club licensing criteria would be allowed to participate in the 2013/2014 Glo Premier League.
The league organising body had given the clubs a December 31, 2013 deadline.