Follow Us on Google
By Emma Njoku
Vice Chairman/CEO of Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi, Benue State, Dominic Iorfa, has assured that the newly inaugurated board of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) will change the narrative in the domestic professional football league.
Iorfa, who noted that the domestic league had suffered a lot of setbacks in recent times, expressed optimism that the high calibre of ex-internationals on the new board will bring their wealth of experience to bear in transforming the Nigerian league.
“I want to appreciate the honour to serve the country as one of the board members of the NPFL. I thank my colleagues in the Clubs Owners Association for the confidence reposed in me to contribute to the growth of our football.
“Our domestic league has encountered setbacks in the previous years and it is time for stability and growth. We have to come together as a football family and work hard to transform our domestic league. The bedrock of any successful football association in the world is the domestic league, and we have accepted the challenge from the NFF president to reform the NPFL.
“The domestic league gave ex-players like me the platform to stardom, so we must not neglect our football heritage. We need to bring the glamour back to our domestic league and make it competitive once again. The NFF president spoke about club licensing, which will guide the new board on reforms that will transform our domestic league. I am optimistic the NPFL board will deliver on the mandate given to us. We need the support of the ecosystem, and we will work hard to take our league to the top level,” Iorfa assured.
The former Crystal Palace of England forward made his managerial acumen count by transforming Lobi Stars which was at the brink of relegation two seasons ago. He steered the club out of relegation and the Makurdi Stars went ahead to finish in the second position in their group in last season’s abridged league to book a place in the NPFL Super Six playoffs, which were held in Lagos recently.
The newly inaugurated NPFL board is headed by Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, while other board members include ex-players, Daniel Amokachi and Davidson Owunmi, who serves as the Chief Operating Officer. The inauguration event, which took place last week in Abuja, was witnessed by the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, and members of the NFF Secretariat.
