Okocha Defends NPFL’s Poor Administrative Quality Comment

Austin Jay-Jay Okocha says he maintains his criticism of the quality of administration in the Nigeria Premier Football League despite the public backlash.

Okocha had offered his views on the state of the NPFL and argued he would rather watch the English Premier League.

The comments stirred indignation towards the former Nigerian captain and Delta State FA Chairman, but Jay-Jay, who is a legend back home insists he won’t retract.

Speaking to Brila at a recent function in Lagos, the former Enugu Rangers midfielder argues that it’ll be a disservice to Nigerians if he couldn’t face the facts and hard truths about the current state of affairs in Nigerian football.

“Maybe this is another opportunity to say that again because I said this in Nairobi, Kenya,” the 50 year-old former footballer remarked.

“At this stage in my life I think it’ll be unfair to lie to our people, for me to be covering up; if we’re talking about getting better, if we’re talking about improving, if we’re talking about meeting our expectations, I think it’s high time we start telling each other the truth.

“I said that I’d prefer to watch the Premier League on television than watching our NPFL because we’re not where we are supposed to be, because it hurts to see that the efforts we all put in, that nothing has been built on it.”

“Yes, now it seems like we’ve realised that and we’ve started creating exciting tournaments and clubs are now taking the initiatives to make sure that they’re doing the right thing.”

“And this is what we’re craving for and this is why I made that statement, so that we will wake up and realise that we need to start attracting people to our local league.