The board of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), in its bid to curb existence of drug abuse by players in the league, has elected to carry out random doping tests on players this season, www.aclsports.com reports.
This is the latest move from the NPFL board to improve the state of the league. It will be recalled that the body recently ruled that head coaches must have at least a CAF B coaching license to sit on the technical bench this season.
NPFL Chairman, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye said random tests for doping would be conducted in the weeks ahead following the acquisition of testing kits from the United Kingdom.
Elegbeleye alongside other football stakeholders were in Port Harcourt to lend support to Rivers United in their CAF Confederation Cup qualifier against Etoile Filante. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau was also present at the match.
“We are committed to join the NFF, CAF, FIFA and the global campaign for eradication of illicit substance use in sports and this will commence soon with random tests of our players”, Elegbeleye told NPFL Media after the last gasp win by Rivers United to reach the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday at the Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium.
“We are poised to arrest and stamp out illicit drugs use in the league where it exists and we plan to collaborate with relevant government agencies to launch an enlightenment campaign which will include displays on our MatchDay stadium boards and media channels”, declared the NPFL Chairman.
In a related development, the Chief Operating Officer of the NPFL, Davidson Owumi, disclosed that a memo will be sent to the NPFL Clubs with a notice of two weeks for the commencement of the doping tests.
Owumi added that training on the operation of the kits is ongoing towards the commencement of random tests in another two weeks.
“There’s an ongoing training of personnel on the use of these kits, so players have the next two weeks to detoxify themselves to get rid of any illicit substance in their system as those who fail the tests will be subjected to the full applicable sanctions”, Owumi warned.
The new 2023/24 NPFL season got underway on Saturday, and from the eight games played, 23 goals were scored.
