With the six teams that will participate in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Super-Six now shaping up, the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, is warming up for the showdown.
The Super Six tournament will produce the 2023 champions and Confederation African representatives for next season.
Super Six is a competition where top three NPFL clubs from group A and group B will clash to determine the eventual winner of the 2022/23 NPFL season.
The Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, was initially pencilled for the Super-six before Lagos was given the nod.
“We are keeping the issue of venue very close to our chest. We will look at several factors before announcing it. First and foremost, we would want to be fair to the teams in terms of neutrality. We have to consider marketing, TV friendly nature of the venue and all that,” Owumi had said then.
According to the Chairman of Interim Management Committee, Gbenga Elegbeleye, a lot of factors were put into consideration before making the final decision on the venue for the super six. He added that for fairness the venue must not be home to any team that will be participating in the tournament.
Meanwhile, towards harmonising fixtures in the two Groups of the ongoing NPFL season, the IMC has directed that all MatchDay 18 games would now be played on Sunday, May 21.
In a letter informing the NPFL Clubs of the fixture rearrangement, the IMC also noted that Federation Cup games of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have also impacted the commencement of the Super six start date.
While regretting the disruption to the schedule of the clubs, the IMC said it has however afforded the league a window to harmonise the fixtures of the regular season end matches.
Elegbeleye clarified that the decision was to ensure that the regular season is concluded on the same date before the commencement of the Super 6.
“The MatchDay 18 fixtures in both Groups will have to be played on the same date and that would be after Rivers United have completed their outstanding matches by Thursday, May 18”, Elegbeleye told IMC Media early Thursday.
Outstanding matches involving Rivers United are MatchDay 12, 15 and 16 which have been scheduled for May 11, May 15 and May 18.
The defending Champions whose fixtures were affected by their CAF Confederation Cup campaign will play Sunshine Stars on Monday, May 15 in a rescheduled MatchDay 12 tie and Doma United on Thursday, May 18. Both games are in Port Harcourt.
Elegbeleye said “the season ending Super 6 will hold in Lagos and we don’t want any Group to enjoy the advantage of extended rest period after playing their last group games”.
