NPFL sets date for 2026/27 season
July 1, 2026 1:57 am
The Nigeria Premier Football League has tentatively fixed the weekend of August 27 to 29 for the kickoff of the 2026/27 season following a joint stakeholders’ meeting involving the National Sports Commission, the Nigeria Football Federation, the NPFL and club owners in Abuja, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
According to the approved football calendar, the season will run until May 28, 2027, with the timeline also incorporating fixtures for the President Federation Cup as organisers seek to maintain a more structured domestic football schedule.
The 2026/27 season will also usher in a new era financially after National Sports Commission chairman Shehu Dikko announced that the league champions will receive N1 billion in prize money—the biggest winner’s purse in the history of Nigerian club football.
The enhanced prize money is part of broader reforms aimed at improving the commercial value and competitiveness of the NPFL while attracting greater investment into the domestic game.
The new campaign will feature four promoted clubs from the Nigeria National League following the conclusion of the 2025/26 second-tier season.
Sporting Lagos, Inter Lagos, Ranchers Bees and Doma United secured promotion to the top flight, replacing the four relegated clubs from the just-concluded NPFL season.
The promoted sides will join defending champions Enugu Rangers, who won their ninth league title after finishing top of the table at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
Abiodun, who reports Sports for PUNCH, covers different tiers of the Nigerian football league, the national teams, as well as cricket, in the last six years
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