Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC) Shehu Dikko has hinted on a shift in the calendar for the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
The current calendar of the league begins from February and runs through November, and Dikko said they are considering altering the current calendar so as to suit the Nigerian clubs playing on the continent.
As a result, he has talked about possibly starting the league season from between October or November, rather than the current February start date.
“The CAF calendar runs from February to November and now we are having issues with our clubs qualifying to the group stages of the CAF club competitions because we start our league almost the same time when the CAF competitions are starting,” he said.
“As a result, the clubs would not have enough games under their belts to be able to compete, which is a major setback.
“So, what we are trying to do is to see if we can bring the calendar to start by October or November.
“So that by the time we get to February, our clubs must have been really prepared and have a stable team to give their best and qualify to the group stages.”
However, Dikko admitted that it might be challenging running the proposed calendar considering that most clubs in the country are funded by government.
“We also have to consider other things like the funding of the clubs, which is approved in the budget of their state governments because they will need money and when the league starts, the budget for the year would have been passed,” he noted.