- Angry Supersport withdraws sponsorship
- Etim Esin, others demand EFCC probe
Alarmed by the sudden withdrawal of Supersport sponsorship of Nigerian football, concerned ex-internationals have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate monetary transactions involving the Nigeria Professional Football League and the Nigeria Football Federation.
Critics have cited various fraudulent acts running to about N10.5bn, allegedly perpetrated with the connivance of both the NFF and the NPFL.
Ex-international, Etim Esin, and former Vice President of the NFF, Chief Oyuki Obaseki, in separate interviews with The Point, demanded proper auditing of the accounts of the NFF and NPFL to ascertain how $34million (about N10.4billion) was spent on football-related issues.
A $34 million deal between the League Management Company-organisers of the NPFL, and Supersport, it was learnt, had commenced from 2015 and was projected to end in 2019 before the sudden break-up this year.
The deal was signed during Bolaji Abdullahi’s era as Nigeria’s sports minister and chairman of the National Sports Commission.
Besides, football administrator and former chairman of the Nigeria Football League Limited, Chief Obaseki, at the weekend, called on the EFCC to unravel the mystery behind club owners’ alleged fraudulent squandering of N244 million broadcast right funds paid to the Nigeria Football League Limited, by TotalPromotions, recently.
According to him, the club owners allegedly conspired among themselves and shared the money, even at a time when a bank had taken over the office of the league management board in Abuja over an unpaid loan of N128 million.
Obaseki vowed that he would stop at nothing to ensure those involved in the illegal sharing of the money were brought to face the consequences of their fraudulent act.
“I feel very bad right now; knowing that the NFLL office has been taken over by a bank, even at a time when they had so much money to defray the bank’s loan,” he said.
Esin, former Nigerian international player, said it was unfortunate that things like these could happening in Nigeria and the government of the day was just folding its arms.
According to him, the LMC entered into an agreement with La Liga without revealing the details of the sponsorship to the title sponsor, Supersport.
“There are so many unpleasant deals going on in Nigeria n foot- ball that need the attention of the EFCC. The people are just doing whatever they like.
EFCC should investigate NPFL and ask why Supersport pulled out from the league.
“It is rather sad that we are in this mess. We have quality ex-footballers, who can manage NPFL and NFF effectively, but we allow politicians to take over our football.
“There was a time FIFA said it would not send grants to the NFF because they failed to account for the money they had been collecting.
“Now, they have swept that case under the carpet. Nobody is talking about it again,” Esin said, while speaking exclusively with The Point.
When contacted, the Chief Executive Officer of the LMC, supervisors of the NPFL, Malam Shehu Dikko, said he would not like to respond to fraud allegations. Dikko, however, said, “In respect of Supersport’s withdrawal from sponsorship of the Nigerian league, we are still discussing with them.
