By Raphael Ekpang
“It is better to try and fail than never” The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has again instructed that coaches without CAF B would not be allowed to sit on benches as the 2023/24 season is set to kick off on Saturday. This, followed the failed attempt made by Nduka Irabor led League Management Company (LMC) in January, 2014.
Consequently the statement issued by the then Chief Operating Officer (COO) of LMC, Salihu Abubakar said, the company in its registration requirements for clubs intending to participate in the 2013/2014 Glo Premier league stated that “Head Coach/Technical Adviser/Manager of Premier League clubs must possess a CAF License B, while all his Assistants including goalkeeper trainer must possess at least C certificate to be eligible to sit on the technical bench.”
The league governing body then warned that the listed conditions for the clubs participation in the new season will not be compromised.
According to the letter sent to the clubs by the Chief Operating Officer, Salihu Abubakar, said the decision was in line with the directive to meet the CAF and FIFA conditions.
“As we await guidelines of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Club Licensing Regulation designed to comply with FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) licensing directives, it is imperative that we proceed now with plans to start the 2013/2014 season by ensuring compliance with extant regulations regarding Club’s properness to continue to participate in the NPFL.
“These Conditions will continue to prevail and would be enforced in the strictest form without prejudice to further amplification that may become necessary with the introduction of the NFF Licensing Regulation,” Abubakar said.
Now, nine years down the line Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye led NPFL has exhumed same proclamation, saying It is now mandatory that to sit on the bench during matches, all Head Coaches of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) clubs must possess the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) B Licence.
As part of its rollout activities for the start of the 2023/24 season, the NPFL Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi announced that the requirement is part of the league’s bid to improve the quality of technical performance of the clubs
“One of the areas of the league we seek to improve in the new season is the area of technical performance of our teams through the players and this can only be achieved by having competent Managers on the bench.
“For this season, we will only allow Head Coaches with a minimum qualification of the CAF B Licence to sit on the bench. This may be reviewed upwards next season “, Owumi told NPFL Media.
He said the measure is coming into force to trigger the Coaches to acquire trainings that will improve what they offer to players.
“The idea is to encourage our coaches to improve themselves through higher certifications by participating in reputable courses”, explained Owumi.
He described Coaching as one of the problem areas that the league must solve in order to grow the game and produce highly technical players
The season is scheduled to kickoff on Saturday, September 30 at eight centres with the fixtures in Port Harcourt and Aba postponed due to continental fixtures of Rivers United and Bendel Insurance.
