Ighalo Nigeria League return: The Conditions, status quo, projections.
34-year old Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo has said he is open to returning home to play in the Nigeria Premier league but with conditions. In this article, CARETAKER looks at his conditions, status quo, and projections.
WHAT ODION IGHALO SAID ABOUT PLAYING IN THE NPFL AGAIN
“I said if security is guaranteed, good coverage is assured and better officiating. Of course, [I will play].
“I have played in the league before, and it will be a great privilege for me to play again for another six months or one year before I end my career.
“But you do not want to be playing and be scared of your life or what is going to happen next. Then, it does not worth it. Because if I am going to play, I will not do it because I want to make money. I am not even going to take money from any team. I will just play because I want to fulfil something.”
“My observation is that we still need investors in the league, we need good coverage, we need good referees because without that the league cannot stand out,”
“If the businessmen can sponsor one team each, we will get better. So we need to organize our league and you will see top players coming to the league,” Ighalo told Elegbete TV.
THE CONDITIONS
From the speech above, the conditions main condition for Odion Ighalo to make a return to the Nigeria Premier League is enhanced security in the country.
Improvements in areas like sponsorship, good coverage and officiating are other areas the Super Eagles hit-man believes can attract top players to the League.
STATUS QUO
I will at this point commend the Interim Management Company for the improvements noticed in the just concluded season.
Definitely, there are rooms for improvement to the status quo with reference to the conditions listed by former Al Hilal forward Odion Ighalo.
The forward is no stranger to the Nigerian Premier League having turned out for Prime FC of Oshogbo and Julius Berger in Lagos before moving to Europe in 2007.
On security in the country and match venues, the roads are risky for travels for a player in Ighalo’s rank at the moment and this problem is beyond the call of the football authorities.
But the reality is that the match venues are relatively safe at the moment for games and so would require special reinforcements to be ready for this call an example that worked when Ahmed Musa joined Kano Pillars in 2021.
On Coverage, as witnessed during the Super Six playoff, it is possible to have the Nigeria Premier League live on TV.
In the area of sponsorship by Businessmen, Nigeria is witnessing a new surge with sponsorships like Remo Stars, Doma United FC, Vandrezzer FC, Sporting Lagos FC, FC ONE Rockets and many others.
Officiating in the current state is improving, the current season witnessed very few questionable calls, a sign of progress and appreciable standard for the league at the moment.
PROJECTIONS
Ighalo may be a free-agent but it is clear his comments about returning to play in the Nigeria Premier League points to the 2023/2024 season.
That was a projection for the final season before he retires from active football, maybe in three to four years time.
This means, the Nigeria Premier League may be of suitable standard to grace his career finale.
Yes, I am very positive about the ability of the Interim Management Committee to take the Nigeria Premier League to the highest possible standard.
The projections are to have well secured and safe match venues, standard coverage of all Nigeria Premier League matches and Impartial officiating backed with the use of all technological aides.
Achievement of this projections will open doors for more private investments and that means more money for the league, its participants and the IGR of the country.
Then, everyone will be talking about the Nigeria Premier League to the extent that Odion Ighalo and other top Nigerian Players will be proud to play in the League.
