March 23, (THEWILL) – The legal dispute between Total Promotions Limited (TPL) and the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) over the broadcast rights of the league may continue for some time.
According to an official from TPL, the organisation held the broadcast rights for the NPFL from 2010/2011 to 2018/2019 but was abruptly stopped from exercising the rights in 2013 by the defunct League Management Company (LMC), which was recently replaced by the IMC. TPL has been fighting to reclaim the league title right since then.
In February 2023, solicitors for TPL wrote to the IMC Chairman, Gbenga Elegbeleye, informing him and others of a window to resolve the lingering title rights issues, which, according to them, had been severally breached by different organisers of the league. The letter also emphasised that contracts and liabilities made or incurred by previous managers or operators of the same league cannot be disregarded or wished away.
When queried about the issues surrounding the broadcasting of NPFL matches, the IMC’s Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, stated that legal matters should be settled in court and that he did not know anything about the contract between TPL and the LMC.
Owumi also mentioned that the recent move by some top officials of the IMC to bring back SuperSports to broadcast the Nigerian league was shunned by the South African satellite television because of the lingering battle with Total Promotions Limited.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
