Lobi Stars of Makurdi have been named the winners of the uncompleted season of the Nigeria Professional Football League after the league organisers, the League Management Company, met with the association of the league’s club owners on Thursday.

In a statement on Friday, the LMC said it was agreed to bring the league season to an end after 24 matches due to “the adverse circumstances in the administration of football in the country, which resulted in the postponement of the resumption of the NPFL and resulting in huge fixture congestion for both league and cup competitions.”

The LMC said with the October 15 deadline for the submission of representatives for the 2019 CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup looming large, the body resolved with the club owners to crown Lobi, who have 43 points, as champions of the league and the country’s representatives in the 2019 Champions League.

“Upon consideration of different options, it was unanimously agreed by the 20 NPFL clubs, that the 2017/18 season of the NPFL is deemed concluded and the team at the top of the standings – Lobi Stars – shall be the representative in the CAF Champions League for 2019 season starting November 2018,” the statement read.

The league body also said the country’s representative in the Confederation Cup would be decided through the 2018 AITEO Cup, which will hold between September and October 14.

The statement read, “The NFF have also endorsed for the 2019 AITEO CUP to commence from September 2018 to end October 14, 2018. The NPFL teams would be seeded for the competition and the winner will represent Nigeria in the 2019 CAF Confederation Cup starting November 2018.”

The body said none of the teams would be relegated, adding that the 2019 NPFL season will start in November with four more teams from the Nigeria National League. It said the league would be played in an abridged format with 12 clubs each in two groups.

At the end of the abridged season in May 2019, six clubs would be relegated to the NNL while two would be promoted to the NPFL.

The LMC said, “No team shall be relegated from the NPFL for 2018 season. Four teams shall be promoted to the NPFL from the Nigeria National League from the ongoing 2018 season to compete in the 2018/19 NPFL season.

“The 2018/19 NPFL season will commence in November 2018 with a total of 24 participating teams, which shall be divided into two groups of 12 teams each. The 2018/19 season will be played on 22 match days ending with a play-off to determine the winner by May 2019.

“Three teams from each group (a total of six) will be relegated from the NPFL after the conclusion of the 2018/19 season, while two teams will be promoted to the NPFL from the NNL 2019 season. This will allow the NPFL to revert to its normal structure of 20 teams as from the 2019/20 season.”

https://punchng.com/lmc-names-lobi-champions-of-unfinished-npfl/