Disaster looms for NPFL clubs in 2021 CAF competitions

Although Nigeria is widely believed to be a powerhouse in world football, over the years, clubs in the Nigerian professional football league have found it difficult to justify such rating whenever they are matched with their opponents in the continent. Although some of the clubs have performed fairly well in the second tier competition, which […]

Although Nigeria is widely believed to be a powerhouse in world football, over the years, clubs in the Nigerian professional football league have found it difficult to justify such rating whenever they are matched with their opponents in the continent.

Although some of the clubs have performed fairly well in the second tier competition, which began in 1974 before it was renamed CAF Confederation Cup in 2004, the same cannot be said of the CAF Champions League which eluded Nigeria for close to five decades before it was finally won.

It is well known that the jinx in the CAF Champions League was broken in 2003, when Enyimba won their first continental trophy after defeating Ismaily of Egypt and against all odds, they successfully defended the Cup by beating Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia on penalties in 2004 on home soil.

Ever since, no Nigerian club has won the coveted trophy again. Heartland also called the ‘Nazi millionaires managed to reach the final in 2009 but lost to Congo DR side, TP Mazembe.

As earlier stated, the story of Nigerian clubs in the second tier CAF competition is a bit encouraging as Shooting Stars of Ibadan were the first Nigerian side to win the title in 1976 before Enugu Rangers dethroned them the following year.

However, there was a drought till 1990 when the once dreaded BCC Lions of Gboko thrashed Club Africain of Tunisia to momentarily restore Nigeria’s lost glory in the continental competition.

The failure of Nigerian clubs at the continental level is without doubt evident in Enyimba being the only Nigerian club till date to have won the CAF Champions League while none has won the Confederations Cup since it was renamed.

This unfortunate trend has been attributed to a number of factors including the usual late kick-off of the domestic league. All efforts to align the league with the leagues in Europe and other African countries have proved abortive. The NPFL usually starts only when other African leagues have resumed weeks or months before.

This year, the same scenario is playing out as only recently, the Confederation of African Football had the draws for its competitions in 2021 with matches set to commence in the last week of this month.

However, the League Management Company, LMC, last week published its draws for the new season as it is planning to kick-start the league on December 6, which will be a week later than the continental competitions.

This means Nigeria’s four representatives in the continent, Plateau United, Enyimba FC (CAF Champions League), Rivers United and Kano Pillars (CAF Confederations Cup) will start their campaigns in the continent before the domestic league.

According to the draws held by CAF, Plateau United will battle Simba FC of Tanzania in the CAF Champions League just as former champions, Enyimba have been drawn to trade tackles with Burkina Faso club Rahimo FC.

In the Confederations Cup, Kano Pillars FC will play ASC Jaraaf of Senegal in the 2020/2021 CAF Confederations Cup with the winner of the tie facing FC San Pedro of Ivory Coast in the second preliminary round.

Nigeria’s second representative, Rivers United, have been drawn against Futuro Kings of Equatorial Guinea, a club founded in 2017 as a result of the merger between Malabo Kings BC (a basketball team) and Estrellas de Futuro de Mongomo (a football team).

Although almost all the four ‘continental clubs’ have taken part in some of the lowly rated pre-season tournaments, there are concerns over match fitness of the players as they head into the continent.

Consequently, most analysts are of the opinion that it would require a miracle for any of the clubs to last in the elite competitions as they would be going up against clubs whose leagues have since started.

The Chairman of Kano Pillars FC, Alhaji Surajo Shaaibu Yahaya recently confirmed the worries of Nigerian football stakeholders when he agreed that his players are not fully ready since the domestic league has not started.

“Just as you said, the players are not fully fit and we are doing all we can to ensure we prepare them with Grade A games to see that they are ready for the champions league.

It is unfortunate that our league has not commenced. Had it been the league is on, it could have helped in preparing our boys for the continental challenge.

“It is going to be difficult but we will definitely do our best to bring joy to our fans as we are the Real Madrid of Nigeria,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Media Officer of Plateau United, Albert Dakup said the failure of the domestic league to resume and the #EndSARS protests are hampering his team’s preparation for the continent.

He said “Since we knew we will be playing continental football, we had kicked off training since September but were forced to stop due the protest and curfew imposed by the state.

“And from there, we lost our momentum such that we even lost our game to Katsina United at the recently concluded Masari Pre-Season tournament in Katsina. That was unusual.

“We will resume camp again and we are certain that we will be 100% fit for our champion’s league games later this month,” he said.

Dakup also revealed that the club registered 40 players ahead of the league as they plan to massively rotate players during the course of the season.

“We are aware that we will have a very tight schedule and that is why we have registered 40 players that will be used for all our games at the local and continental level.

“It is a shame our league has not started, but we won’t let that affect us as we aim for a semi-final berth in the CAF champion’s league,” he said.

On his part, Enyimba FC Media Officer, Zazi Bariza Samuel said the coaches are working round the clock putting the players through their paces to ensure they are fit.

“The coaches are doing a great job in putting the players in great shape ahead of our games. We have been involved in pre-season tournaments designed to make the players to be match fit.

“Our game against Rahimo won’t be easy because we played against them last season. It was their debut season and they will know us better this time around,” he said.

Just like others, he bemoaned the inaction of players for over 8 months, but insisted the club is preparing for the challenges ahead.

“It is sad our players were inactive for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now they are rusty.

“We may register more than 30 players, if CAF permits that. The standard is 30 but we understand that because of the crisis, the number could be increased,” he noted.

Meanwhile, the first leg of the preliminary round will kick off on the weekend of November 27-29, while the return leg fixtures are scheduled for between 4th and 6th of December.