By IME BASSEY
Warri Wolves Director of Football, Edema Fuludu has expressed his dissatisfaction with the continuous disregard of the Players Union in the affairs of the Premier League and the combined N350 million being owed  players and coaches in the past few years.

Fuludu, a former Insurance of Benin and BCC Lions of Gboko mid-fielder, petitioned the Nigerian Premier League board to look into the persistent subject of players and coaches welfare, as they are yet to see the players as the major stakeholders in the game.

Speaking to Inside Out Premier League in Benin City, the Edo State capital, Fuludu said, “the combined money that clubs owe players and coaches nationwide is about N350 million and these are the ones reported. We all know that there are more that has not been reported.

Fuludu

“These figures are those that have been judged and cleared by the players’ status committee that was established by the Lulu-led NFA board but all the concluded cases could not be implemented as the NFA refused to enforce it on the clubs.

“If the NFA and NPL cannot allow the players committee to exist and make the rules binding on all the clubs, there will not be recognition of players as workers which they are.

Players have right as workers and stakeholders in the league just like the referees’ council, NPL and Pro League board.

Without the players, there is no football; this is what we all should know in this country,” Fuludu said.

The former defunct NNB star and Insurance of Benin coach requested that “The Nigerian Football Association should boldly tell the NPL that the players union is in charge of players’ affairs. This I believe will check club management, players and also the NFA. Contracts will be recognised, arbitrations will be settled once and for all, and then the game will move forward.

“This present NPL board has had several meetings and they have not thought it right to set up the players’ status committee which is enshrined in the constitution of FIFA and is also in their books,” Fuludu added.

Cup games stall Nigerian league restart

The restart of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) has suffered yet another postponement after the championship’s arbiter has been forced to move forward this weekend’s fixtures.

Acting Executive Secretary of the Premier League, Tunji Babalola, told SuperSport.com on Thursday that the topflight in Nigeria can no longer restart this weekend due to FA Cup finals scheduled to hold at the state level.

He explained that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officially wrote the NPL to inform that the state FA Cup finals will hold on Saturday and Sunday across the country.

“It is not a pleasant news for us but we regret that the league cannot start again this weekend as we had hoped. This is because we just got a letter from the NFF informing us that the state FA Cup finals will be played this weekend.

“So we will have to adjust our fixtures to start the league again next Wednesday, as most of the Premier League clubs will take part in the state FA Cup finals.

Before now most of the clubs have been calling us to know if it is the league or FA Cup they will play this weekend. We will communicate this to all the 20 clubs and do a re-adjustment to our fixtures for the second stanza,” Babalola told SuperSport.com.

It is not the first postponement suffered in the restart of Nigeria’s topflight which ended its first round on March 13.
Initial restart dates of April 20 and 30 have suffered shifts with the latest being May 7.