NPFL Referees Face Uncertainty Over Unpaid Indemnities

Match officials in the Nigeria Premier Football League are facing fresh uncertainty over their unpaid indemnities and other welfare concerns following the shake-up in Nigerian football administration, The PUNCH reports.

The referees had raised concerns over outstanding payments from the 2025/26 season, including indemnities for NPFL matches and the President Federation Cup, shortly before the new season began.

However, their hopes of being paid have become less certain following the decision of the interim leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation to remove the NPFL board as part of interim arrangements during the ongoing reforms of Nigerian football.

The development has left match officials in the dark over who will take responsibility for resolving their outstanding payments and other concerns raised before the administrative changes.

It is the second time this year that referees have raised the alarm over unpaid match indemnities. In January, The PUNCH reported that referees, match commissioners and referee assessors were owed payments for about 11 matchdays before some of the outstanding allowances were subsequently paid.

The officials’ basic allowances per matchday range from N60,000 to N90,000, aside from hotel and transport allowances.

Another concern raised ahead of the new season was an alleged demand for N50,000 from each referee for uniforms, with a deadline at the end of August. The officials also accused the league’s Referees Committee of unfairly removing some referees while retaining others they considered undeserving.

“So the victimisation continued in the NRA? Nigeria league is starting this weekend, and they asked all referees to pay N50,000, fifty thousand naira, each for a uniform, with a deadline of the end of August.”

And these referees were not paid for last season’s matches,” the officials said in a statement obtained by our correspondent.

“How will the ref committee remove a referee from the NPFL for being in the league for long, even when he hasn’t reached 45 years? Isn’t that wickedness? So long as the ref can run and pass fitness, why remove him by force on the grounds of the number of years spent in the league? Is it a crime to stay long, remain fit, and do well in the Nigerian league as a referee?

“Why are we so wicked to our system? Many referees cannot write, yet you allow them and remove those who have been consistent for years through discipline and hard work. Is this how to reward hard work in the Nigerian league?”

Checks by our correspondent with some referees also indicated that officials were still expecting payments dating back to matchday 26 of last season.

Acting President of the Nigeria Referees Association, Kelechi Mejuobi, declined to comment on the outstanding payments, insisting that the league body should state its position.

“NRA cannot talk until you hear from the NPFL. They are the league organisers,” Mejuobi told The PUNCH.

The NPFL had previously claimed that all outstanding referees’ indemnities had been settled, while the referees have continuously denied that, but the administrative changes have now created fresh uncertainty over the status of the payments among affected officials.

The shake-up came just as the NPFL entered a new season under a three-year title sponsorship agreement with Poland-based investment group EuroMatch, worth $7.5m.

The deal, unveiled ahead of the 2026/27 season, is valued at $2.5m annually, with 60 per cent of the yearly sponsorship proceeds, amounting to $1.5m, allocated to the league’s 20 clubs.