Stanley Eguma, coach of Rivers United during the CAF Confederation Cup 2023/24 Quarterfinals Press Conference Rivers United at 5 July 1962 Stadium in Algiers , Algeria on 06 April 2024 ©Djaffar Ladjal/BackpagePix
Saturday Apr 27, 2024. 16:00
The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) has announced that fixtures will be put on hold for a month to allow Rivers United to catch up with the rest of the teams.
The Pride of Rivers have fallen behind domestically due to their CAF Confederation Cup commitments as they reached the quarter-finals before bowing out to USM Alger following a 2-1 defeat on aggregate.
Stanley Eguma’s side find themselves down in 15th place, 17 points adrift of league leaders Enugu Rangers, although they have only played 25 games – six less than most of their rivals.
The Port Harcourt outfit will now be given the chance to complete their backlogged schedule in order to provide an even playing field for all 20 clubs going into the final six rounds of the season.
The league will be postponed after the completion of matchday 32 on April 29 and is set to resume on the weekend of May 25-26.
“After further deliberations and consistent with our principle of sporting fairness, I am pleased to share with you a more accommodating fixture arrangement to ensure that the outstanding games of Rivers United are completed,” NPFL Chief Operating Officer Davidson Owumi said in a statement.
“This has been done to provide level playing platform for all teams going into the last six fixtures of the season.
“We expect to have an uninterrupted sail for the remaining games of Matchday 33-38 after the run of clearing these backlogs.”
