In the Nigerian Premier League, it's usually a war for an away team to claim 3 points due to a number of factors such as bribery and corruption, bias officiating and fear on the part of the away team of being ambushed by the opposing fans.
In football, we all know that home match has a little advantage on the home team, reason being that the home team is usually more relaxed than the away team. There's high morale when playing in an atmosphere where you're being supported by about 80% of the spectators. It's likened to a stranger coming to beat you in your own house when your mom, dad and siblings are watching 😁
If you're very conversant with the NPL you would have observed that the away team hardly wins the home team even though they have more winning strength than the home team. Take for example, if Shooting Stars are on top of the table and they play an away match against Kwara United who are at the bottom of the table, Shooting Stars are probably going to lose to them. Even if they don't, it would probably be a draw.
I could vividly remember a NPL team who needed 8 goals to scale through relegation and during their last game of the season, they ended up winning 13-0. Yes you heard me right! 13-0. This is tell you the height of corruption in the NPL
Why is this really happening?
I know this should be the question running through your mind. Well, the reasons are not far-fetched👇
i. This is a trend in the NLP
This has been a trend in the NPL and it has been going on for a long time. It's very rare for a home team lose in the NPL and if it happens, this will cause panic among the away team. If you check the NPL results, out of 13 matches, at least 10 home teams will win while the remaining 3 match would probably be draws and maybe a away win for the away teams. You can see the image above confirmed it 👆
ii. Pressures on the referees
There's usually a lot of pressures on referees and that's why the officiating and that's why they always do everything they can just to please the home team with bias judgement. Most times, the opposing fans will invade the pitch beating up referees and linesmen when the match does not favour them.
There is huge pressure on referee to be bias and that's why a match is probably going to result in a draw would be settled by late penalties in favour of the home side. Even if the referee's officiating is not determined by bribery, there's no guarantee that the mob will not come after them after the game.
iii. Pressures on the home team
Pressures are usually mounted on home team to win because the points margin are usually so close, therefore, losing 3 points in a home match can have derail the club’s ambitions that season. The pressure fans mount on home team to win a home match makes administrators fight to ensure their teams win at home at all cost
iv. Bribery and corruption
The NPL referees are not well paid. Their salary ranges between N80,000- N100,000 ($222-$270) and this usually incite bribery by the home team. Imagine a referee receiving a salary of $222 being offered $500 bribe by the home team (a double of his salary), he's probably going to accept it and award undeserved penalty for the home team or an undeserved red card for the away team.
v. Fans aggression
Although, fans aggression happen everywhere in the world just that security officials always ensure than players are protected from being harmed by angry mob. Since we have security issues here, such a thing is inevitable. Over the years, referees have been forced to please the home team just to avoid being brutalised by the opposing fans. Fans aggression in NPL is not directed to referees alone, sometimes the visiting team also have their own share of assault.
There are serious issues affecting the growth and popularity of the Nigerian Premier League. Let me say this is a common occurrence in the African local leagues but
there are still a a few African Leagues such as Egypt, Kenya and South Africa where away team picks up 3 points without being physically but in other leagues, it would probably result in chaos
I drop my pen at this juncture 😎
Thank you for reading
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