On the second day of the new year, the Chief Operating Officer of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Davidson Owumi wrote to Chairmen and General Managers of the 20 top-tier clubs, urging them to guard the reputation of the league as a commercial asset.
In the memo titled, “Protecting and Building the NPFL Brand”, the former top scorer of the elite league, assured the clubs of fairness, excellence and neutrality in leading the administrative secretariat of the league operations.
‘At the secretariat and operational level, our commitment to excellence and fairness remains firm as we go into the crucial part of the season’, he stated.
He commended the club administrators for their cooperation, which ensured a near smooth running of the first stanza of the NPFL, and appealed for increased and improved level of adherence to the rules.
Owumi then charged them to be the chief marketing officers of the league by guarding against unsavoury public commentary that dents the market viability of the NPFL.
He admonished: ‘It is very important to remind all of us that we have a responsibility to protect and build the NPFL asset for the good of all stakeholders.
‘As club leaders, you are the first ambassadors of the NPFL because the league entity belongs to you. There will be no league without the 20 participating clubs, hence your prime place in the affairs of the league cannot be over emphasised’.
Owumi said that a few recent negative remarks attributed to some club leaders can only lead to the erosion of the gains of the Otunba Gbenga Elegbeleye-led board in the last four seasons, calling on those who feel aggrieved by some on-and-off field decisions to utilise established communication channels to seek redress.
‘Having established the first among equals position of the clubs in the NPFL ownership structure, let us recognise the fact that no club owner or administrator should be seen or heard disparaging the league. This is equivalent to pulling down your own house while inside.
‘There are established channels and protocols for ventilating our grievances, which I humbly request for everyone to adhere to, no matter how pained we feel about on-and-off field decisions. The recourse to dragging the NPFL on media platforms is detrimental to the good of the brand’, the memo continued.
The clubs leaders were reminded by the communication that there are consequences for acts that bring the league to disrepute, and noted that, ‘while it is not the intention of the NPFL Board to wield the provisions of the Frameworks and Rules on anyone, it must be stated that we are all subject to the rules of the league at all times’.
