NPFL: Beyond that humiliation from South Africa!

By Patrick Omorodion

The dwindling fortunes of Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) clubs got to an embarrassing level last week.

That was when the champions of the league campaigning in the CAF Champions League, Remo Stars of Ikenne got whipped 5-1 on their temporary ground, the MKO Abiola Sports Arena in Abeokuta by South Africa’s champions, Mamelodi Sundowns.

 This embarrassing result came on the heels of the recent conclusions of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers where Bafana Bafana of South Africa beat the Super Eagles to the automatic ticket for the World Cup in their qualifying group.

 South Africans even boasted that their national team which gave the Super Eagles a run for their money was made up of players plying their football trade in the country’s Premier Soccer League, PSL.

 About seven of the Bafana Bafana players are members of Mamelodi Sundowns which decimated Remo Stars.

 While Nigerian fans were either moaning over the loss or mocking Remo Stars not to bother to honour the second leg because they can’t beat the South African team by 5-0 to qualify for the next stage of the competition, the Proprietor, Kunle Soname was advancing reasons why Remo Stars or other Nigerian clubs are performing poorly in the continent.

 According to Soname, poor funding of the league and the inability of Nigerian clubs to retain their good players or attract good foreign ones make the clubs unable to match better funded clubs from other African countries.

 “There isn’t enough money in our league to compete. Players in the Nigerian league earn N500,000, N700,000, or maybe a maximum of N800,000 monthly. Meanwhile, you’re playing against clubs where players earn $4000 to $5000. On the balance of probability, they will beat you 7 out of 10 times because they have better-quality players.

 Also the best players in our league today won’t be here next season-those teams will buy them. So how do you expect us to compete?”, he asked.

 Investigation shows that the highest paid player in the South African league, the PSL is Themba Zwane of Mamelodi Sundowns who earns about 800,000 South African Rand, about N64m per month.

 The highest paid player in the NPFL is incidentally Remo Stars’ Sikiru Alimi and he earns N1.3m monthly.

 Among the top seven earners in the South African league, Mamelodi Sundowns have four while Kaizer Chiefs have three.

 So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Mamelodi Sundowns disgraced Remo Stars because they parade about seven Bafana Bafana players our Super Eagles who are wholly foreign-based always find difficult to beat.

 Sikiru’s monthly salary can’t be compared with that of young players making their debut in the PSL who earn between 20,000 and 40,000 Rand (N1.6m and N3.2m) monthly.

 One other major reason  beside Soname’s lamentation about poor funding for the Nigerian league is lack of standard playing surfaces.  poor surfaces are not  television friendly . TV attracts sponsorship from which clubs earn good money to sign quality players.

 Isn’t it a shock that while countries like South Africa and Egypt have about 13 and five stadiums approved by FIFA for their football matches, Nigeria has only the Akwa Ibom state owned Godswill Akpabio stadium approved?

 Without broadcasting and sponsorship revenues, clubs cannot go for experienced and skilled players which in turn help them attract fans and endorsements.

 Clubs must have ambition to win trophies and qualify for continental competitions but unfortunately that is not the primary purpose why Soname set up Remo Stars as he disclosed sometime ago.

 He said he set up Remo Stars as a nursery to nurture talents for European clubs and make his money through their transfers.

 To him winning the NPFL and qualifying to play in the CAF Champions League which only recently started attracting big prize money is just a bonus to him.

 Even though administrators of the NPFL tout it as one of the best leagues in Africa, it is still way down number seven on the ladder in terms of prize money for its winners.

 The South African PSL attracts a prize of about US$1.2m for its champion club, Morocco’s league, Botola Pro winners earn US$603,000, while the champions of the Egyptian Premier League, get US$500,000.

 Tunisia League 1 winners get US$300,000,  the Tanzania NBC Premier League top prize is US l$250,000 and the  Ethiopian Premier League winners earn US l$200,000, US$40,000 more than what Nigeria’s NPFL champions supposedly earn.

 As it is now, Nigerian clubs will continue to be mere participants in CAF competitions while the league may never be able to produce players who can win the African Nations Championship, CHAN meant for home-based players.

 The NFF, as presently constituted, who are competition and not development driven, are not willing to think our of the box to improve the league beyond the level it is now.

 They are satisfied relying on Nigerian league players who make it to foreign clubs as well as Nigerian players in the Diaspora for national team competitions. As if the national teams are their only responsibility, the NFF pays little or no attention to  developmental football.