Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) Davidson Owumi has said that an international hiatus would have done the country’s football more good than harm.

Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan directed in June 2010 that the country would withdraw from all international football competition for two years to enable Nigeria to reorganize its football.

Owumi

The President eventually rescinded the decision following high level delicately diplomatic consultations but Owumi has declared that a lot of positives would have been recorded in Nigerian football if the decision had stood.

“There are a lot of things wrong with our football and I tell you that if the President had insisted that we stayed away from Fifa competitions, we would have completed a year by now. We would have had just one more year to go and a lot would have been sanitized in our football,” he said.

The NPL chef also frowned at the ‘antics of several individuals who keep on doing wrong things and hiding behind the curtain of a Fifa ban’.

“Some individuals keep on doing wrong things and hiding behind the curtain of a Fifa ban on the country.

“To hell; what is Fifa ban. What are we benefiting by been a member of Fifa?

“Is it just to take part in World Cups? Is that enough? We keep struggling to beat countries like Ethiopia, Madagascar, Ethiopia…is that a normal situation? Those two years would have helped us to restructure our football,” he stressed.

Owumi also voiced his opinion on the recent decision by a Federal High court restating him to his position as NPL Boss.

Presiding judge, Gabriel Kolawole on Tuesday, gave the order that Owumi return to office pending the determination of a suit he filed challenging his removal by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

“I do not have an issue with anyone. Victor Baribote Rumson contested an election and lost woefully. This is a political issue.
“The NFF should allow the league to be autonomous. They (NFF) remind me of a Parent that does not want his child to grow. Their job is not to run the NPL but just to act as a regulatory body,” Owumi said.

The chief added that the domestic football league in Nigeria could rank among the best on the continent ‘if things are allowed to go the way they should’.

“My brother, if we allow things to go the way they should, we can be among the best. The other day a Nigerian player was transferred to a South African PSL club for $100,000.00.

“We hardly see such things in Nigeria because we have not yet done the right thing. Are they better than us? Do they have bigger companies than we do in Nigeria? We will move mountains if we do things right,” Owumi added.