Nigerian Football and the EPL Model -By Ayobami Okerinde

If has grown to become a yardstick to judge how prosperous Nigeria would have been, only if we had/have good leaders. The Sports industry is not left out in this dream of a better Nigeria.

The Nigerian Professional Football League has gone down the drain in the last decade and no end seems to be in sight to this disaster. I’ve always maintained that you don’t have to like the English Premier League, but you have no choice but to praise how the League was built and has evolved over the years. One of the emulable things about the EPL is the structure. The structure of EPL (English football), is so clear that it goes from the Top Division, down to the Non-League (EPL, Championship, League One, League Two, National League, National League North and South, and the tier goes). English Football in the last decade has strengthened its Age Grade teams (with a proper League structure for U23s and U18s). Women’s football has also grown tremendously with the League now breaking records in terms of viewership.

(Maybe) Unknown to many, the Premier League through the Fantasy League operates a ‘Force it down their throat system’. This system has boosted the image of the EPL. Every match day, you see some football lovers having discussions on who to captain or which goalkeeper will keep a clean sheet? The Fantasy League has grown such that there are shows dedicated to it across different countries in the world. Fantasy has contributed immensely to the growth of EPL, it has given lesser teams publicity such that it’s no longer difficult to recognize a player from their team. Fantasy lovers playing the game for 38 weeks across the season have helped players too in terms of transfer. This system if replicated in Nigeria should succeed IF we put things in place. The Fantasy League system only gives room to have a maximum of three players from the same team. The high price of players in big teams, also makes it impossible to have the superstars, leaving room for fantasy lovers to buy players from smaller teams, thereby increasing their popularity.

One thing we should not forget is that no amount of prayers will change the fortunes of Nigerian football.

Also, the first step to take in sanitizing and improving Nigerian football is to Privatize the League. Getting the league out of the hands of the government is the first real thing to do, otherwise, all efforts are synonymous with fetching water inside the basket. It’s evident that the government only runs football as a poverty alleviation scheme or a means to empower the youths. That teams can have over 40 players for one season, and also choose to sack them when for flimsy reasons.

Privatizing the league will help the league to be in line with professional practices across the world. It will set standard practices such as having a home stadium, contracts, funds, travelling, and players’ welfare, amongst others, become a norm as against what is being practised today where teams are often stranded, and players are owed salaries. Giving private individuals the chance will help the league become commercially viable.

The English football model if adopted will almost become an instant success. Despite the harsh economy and growing security concerns, you see young men and women fill viewing centres to the brim when their favourite team is in action. Asides from the El Classico and the Champions League final, it’s almost impossible to see more crowds in a viewing centre than when EPL teams are in action. The football-loving spirit of Nigerians will make us embrace good footballing culture and environment when one is assured.

Also, a recent report showed that Premier League players paid over 4billion pounds in taxes in 2021. The EPL has succeeded in becoming a home for not just its players (who hardly play outside the league), but also for players from different nationalities across the world. The TV rights deal of the EPL is so huge that, the last team on the log at the end of the season is almost guaranteed about 100 million pounds (including prize money and others). A large section of the Nigerian population watch football, Nigerians are living in different countries across the world. This is helpful when sponsors and advertisers notice the number of followers a league has. English Football has a lot that Nigeria can copy to improve its football, but I think these are the basics.

The government handing football over to private individuals doesn’t mean it has relinquished power, Instead, it performs an advisory and supervisory role to ensure the League is run properly. It is much needed in cases that border on the general populace, an example is how different governments gave guidelines on football restarting during the lockdown in 2020. The government also has a huge role to play in ensuring the league function properly by providing avenues for it to thrive and also providing necessary measures such as security to ensure the general populace are not at risk due to football.

Nigeria Professional Football League was once the toast of African football, Enyimba FC did this with back-to-back CAF Champions League titles, and now Nigerian teams struggle to qualify for the competition’s group stage

It’s important to note that this will not be rocket science. It’s taken the EPL and English football about 30 years to get to this present level. Following the English football model will set the right path for football to thrive in Nigeria.

Post Script
Nigeria’s problems across all sectors are not a lack of good people, but the system. Our values, and beliefs, amongst others, are built on a faulty and fraudulent foundation. What then can the righteous do?

Individually we are not exempted from the problems bedevilling Nigeria.