Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) curtain raiser fixture in Ibadan will be the only game to hold on Saturday, 9th September, which is the opening day of the 2023/24 season.
Shooting Stars will host 2020/21 champions, Plateau United at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Adamasingba, Ibadan.
NPFL Chairman, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye told league media outfit, the NPFL Media that the decision is consistent with the tradition established last season under the then Interim Management Committee (IMC), which he also led.
“Remember that last season opening day fixture was the match in Uyo between Akwa United and Bendel Insurance. The other nine fixtures were played the following weekend and it is one of the traditions we are bringing into the new league era”, remarked Elegbeleye, who is now the second Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation.
The NPFL boss noted that the decision was also necessitated by the Super Eagles match on Sunday, 10th September in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
Nigeria will face São Tomé and Príncipe in the last qualifying match of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Both Nigeria (group winners) and Guinea Bissau have already book their places in the finals.
“Some of our clubs prefer playing their home matches on Sundays to attract a full house of fans and we cannot start from the first day to have scattered fixtures hence all other games apart from the curtain raiser have been moved to the following weekend”, he added.
In a related development, the match in Ibadan will be the first to be streamed on the new NPFLLive app on mobile phones and other devices.
Authorities of the Lekan Salami Stadium have completed the construction of camera stand with a safe staircase where the AI Camera crew and commentators will operate from.
Chairman of 3SC, Hon Babatunde Olaniyan revealed this in Abuja during the Annual General Meeting and Draw ceremony on Tuesday.
“We promised the broadcast team during their inspection visit that the camera stand staircase will be installed and our Governor approved funds for this because he wants the stadium to meet all requirements”, Olaniyan told NPFL Media
