Ex-international, Wahidi Akanni, says the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) will be better off playing an abridged league in the soon to begin 2023/2024 season as was the case with the 2022/2023 season.
Akanni said this in an interview with the media on Thursday in Lagos.
The League Management Company (IMC) introduced the abridged league in the 2022/2023 season.
Abridged league happens when clubs from the same region are grouped together and the first two qualify to compete with other regional champions in a Super Eight or Super Six championship to produce a national champion.
More often in an abridged league, clubs are drawn into two groups: A and B, with ten teams in each group.
The top three teams from each group will proceed to a super six tournament that will determine the eventual winner of the league.
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“I hope they just continue with the abridged league, we are not ready for a full season, the league has been down for more than 10 years now.
“If you did something that was nice last year why not repeat it again this year, put the team together in zones and allow the best emerge,” said Akanni.
He said an abridged league should be played in all divisions, with every team playing equal number of games (18 games instead of 36 games), to save time and money.
“The need for conference leagues is based on the Nigerian situation inadequate transport, deplorable state of roads, insecurity and our economy do not support a twenty team format,” he said.
The 2023/2024 NPFL season is scheduled to kick-off in August.