By Victor Okoye
Abuja, Sept. 20, 2023 (NAN) The Chairman of Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN) Task Force, Harrison Jalla, has warned Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) stakeholders to resist the temptation of devaluing the league with ‘slave contracts’.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that rumour mill is agog that a certain Chinese company in conjunction with Nigerian businessmen with some treacherous club owners and board members of the NPFL are piling undue pressure on the NFF president Ibrahim Gusau to accept a slave contract of 10 years duration in the first instance for the acquisition of part of NPFL broadcast right.
Jalla stressed that some stakeholders had made so much sacrifices to ensure that the league
“Let’s remind the Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye led NPFL board that some stakeholders including myself have laid down their lives to wrestle the NPFL out of the suffocating grip of the defunct league management company (LMC) with the unflinching support of the former minister of sports Chief Sunday Dare.
“More so, the NPFL board should be properly guided to understand that the players bloc are co-owners of all the commercial properties and rights of the NPFL.
“From all indications the NPFL and GTI partnership is work in progress, therefore it would be foolhardy at this stage to rush into any under the table slave contract.
“What is the value of the NPFL broad cast right at the time Supersport pulled out? That should be the start point for fresh negotiation as the NPFL/GTI partnership progresses,” he said.
The PFN Task force Chairman stressed that the main plank of the NPFL/GTI partnership was to avoid the pitfalls of slave contracts and keep the NPFL running until all its properties are disposed off at the appropriate commercial value.
He noted that this was to ensure financial independence of all the NPFL clubs.
“We therefore cannot afford to go back to the past where personal interest is the order of the day.
“The Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye led board must be given maximum support by all stakeholders to continue their good job,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
