The Chairman of the Nigeria Football Professional League, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, has showered praises on Rivers United for picking a slot in the group stage of the Confederation of Africa Football League’s Champions League.
He expressed optimism that more teams will try to adopt the style of the team to achieve continental prominence in the seasons ahead.
The Garden City based outfit achieved the feat this term after edging Black Bulls of Mozambique 3-2 on aggregates.
Rivers United lost the first leg 1-0 but in the result lege, the team won 3-1 to earn a berth and became the first Nigerian team since 2016 to qualify for the league stage of a CAF Competition.
Elegbeleye noted that Rivers United have complied with all the advise given to them by the league body and they deserve to be in the position they are at the moment.
“We cannot force teams to retain their players, we can only advise. I am happy that one of the few listening to us which is Rivers United are now making us proud. I congratulate Barrister Chris Green, the management team and the government of Rivers State. Imagine the money already made with the qualification and that is a big deal. Next season, we expect more teams to qualify because Rivers have opened the doors now for others,” Elegbeleye said.
“There have been improvements in the overall set up. The referees are not perfect but they are better, Because of points deductions, teams are now very cautions to misbehave. We met a league without calendar and over the past years, we have been able to align the calendar. In the past two seasons, we start the league same time with other parts of Africa and Europe. This is a good omen that can only get better.
“Let me also say that some teams look more at the business side of the league by selling players and that also informs why the consistency and cohesion expected for keen competition are not there.”
