“LMC Has Agenda,” Akwa United Condemn PPG Rule, Demand Fairness In Ending 2020 NPFL Season

Paul Bassey Akwa United Chairman

Nigeria Professional Football League Side Akwa United football club of Uyo has condemned the purported Club owners Point Per Game (PPG) decision used in ending the 2019/2020 football season.

It was reported on Sunday that Club owners had voted for the league season to end due to the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic and adopted the PPG strategy in order to have representatives at CAF competitions.

Akwa United were on 6th position with 35 points from 25 games before the league went on break, and were eight points behind 3rd-place Lobi Stars.

17 out of the 20 league clubs in the NPFL voted for the league to be ended with PPG format adopted while Rangers International was the only club to have voted for a super six to be played. Two clubs (Akwa United and Lobi Stars)  were said to have abstained from voting.

The Uyo-based club through a press release posted on their Facebook page refuted claims that they refused to take part in the voting exercise.

“On Sunday, Akwa United was not invited to any voting deliberately. We happened by chance on the club owners platform by 5:30pm to find out that a skewed process had been initiated since 4pm and all we saw was Wikki “A” Nasarawa “A” Enyimba “A” Adamawa “A” etc,” a press release signed by the Club’s media officer Mfon Patrick read.

READ: NFF Rejects Clubs Owners Decision To End NPFL Season Early

The Promise keepers also went further to allege that some clubs embraced the PPG option because they were relegation threatened.

“We sympathize with the ten clubs that are relegation-threatened. Of course, they will quickly vote for the cancellation of the league. We understand the selfishness of the four that are favoured by this faulty process and are continent bound, yes “A” is okay for them”.

“We repeat that the PPG is strange to us, it should be condemned and eradicated. Clubs that have suffered through the season to garner points on the field of play should not be sacrificed for another that has the reputation of piling up rescheduled matches.

Akwa United will forever err on the side of equity, justice and fairplay. We call for decisions that can stand the test of time no matter whose Ox is gored,” the statement continued reading.  

The 2-time Aiteo Cup Champions also pointed a finger at the League Management Company and accused the leadership of NPFL Club owners for supporting the LMC’s alleged ploy.  

“We had been sufficiently briefed on the agenda the LMC had in store, supported by the docile leadership of the club owners,” the statement added.

“The LMC went to town with a contraption called PPG (we smelt a rat and said so). Of all the 20 clubs in the league, why will you use five outstanding matches of one club (Enyimba) to destabilise the league structure and the sweat of all clubs who had undergone 25 matches on the road.”