Sports
NPL To Assist Clubs In Continental Assignments
Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League, Victor Baribote has said that the League body will help clubs competing in Africa as soon as games start in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup.
Baribote told newsmen that firstly, the NPL may attach coaches of any of the national teams to work with the clubs.
“We can only do this if the coaches of the clubs will be comfortable with this,” Baribote said.
“If the coaches agree we can do that to complement their technical knowhow but if not, we will just give them some other form of logistics back up.”
Baribote also said that playing on the continent will be used by the NPL for capacity building for other club administrators.
“We are looking at sending chairmen of other clubs to travel with these team when they go on their journeys so they can have experience of playing on the continent too.
“They need to learn so when it is their turn to play on the continent the terrain won’t be strange to them.
“We need to improve the league. You know that right now everybody is crying over what is happening at the national teams but if we improve the league, we will have a much better national team,” he said.
Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt contingent, comprising players, technical crew, backroom staff, and officials, depart the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos State on Wednesday, bound for Kinshasa, DR Congo.
The team is set to face FC Les Aigles du Congo in the first-round first-leg match of the CAF Champions League.
This was contained in a press release signed by the media officer of the club, Charles Mayuku and made available to Tidesports on Wednesday.
He said that the highly anticipated match is scheduled to take place at the 80,000-capacity Kinshasa-Complexe Omnisports Stade des Martyrs on morrow with kickoff slated for 3:30pm.
According to the statement the encounter marks the first-ever meeting between both sides in any competition, adding that an air of excitement and unpredictability to the fixture.
“As the Pride of Nigeria embarks on this crucial journey, the team is determined to return with a decent result that will set them up favorably for the second leg on Sunday, 28th September” the statement said.
The new rankings, released via FIFA’s official X handle on Thursday, reflect the team’s continued struggles under Coach Eric Chelle amid a stuttering 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
This marks a second consecutive decline after the Nigerian side dropped from 43rd to 44th in August on the back of poor outings in recent international matches.
Despite Nigeria’s setback, several African teams made progress. Morocco remains the continent’s highest-ranked side, sitting 11th in the world after winning eight of their last nine matches. Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire complete Africa’s top five.
Lesotho slipped to 153rd place, while Benin Republic, Nigeria’s upcoming opponent, climbed to 93rd. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, who held the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw in June, rose to 55th, strengthening their bid for World Cup qualification.
Zimbabwe had the biggest slide down the ranking table, dropping nine places to 125th position in the world.
The rankings highlight Nigeria’s struggle to regain form on the global stage as key rivals continue to surge ahead.
Similarly, the Super Falcons of Nigeria remain 36th best in the world], while the Spanish female national team replaced the USA at the top of the women’s ranking.
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