PREMIER LEAGUE SECOND ROUND RESUMES SUNDAY

The League Management Committee (LMC) has said that all the week 20 matches of the Nigerian Premier League billed to kick- start resumption of the second stanza of the ongoing league season will hold on Sunday, July 20 as scheduled except for fixtures involving clubs involved in the Federation Cup. The Chief Operating Officer of the League Management Committee, Mallam Salihu Abubakar said yesterday that only premier clubs involved in the Federation’s Cup Round of 16 games holding today and those that may qualify for the quarter- finals slated for next Wednesday will have their matches shifted. Enyimba International, Nembe City, Giwa FC, Bayelsa United and El-Kanemi Warriors are among the 10 Premier League Clubs that will be in action in the Round of 16. The others are Sharks, Dolphins, Crown FC, Nasarawa United and Lobi Stars. Abubakar said the slight adjustment in fixtures was necessitated by the changes in the already listed Federation Cup match days. “Sequel to the change in Federation Cup match days, we have been constrained to also slightly adjust our fixtures to accommodate Premier League teams involved in the Federation Cup Round of 16 and quarter finals games. “Matches in Jalingo between FC Taraba and Gombe United and that in Warri between Warri Wolves and Kaduna United will hold as scheduled on Sunday, while on Wednesday, July 23, the other fixtures will be played but excluding those clubs that qualify for the Federations Cup quarter finals,” Abubakar added. He disclosed that clubs that qualified for the quarter-finals of the Federation Cup will play their week 20 matches on Wednesday, August 13, saying “we have taken these steps to avoid any major fixture disruptions in the remaining stanza of the 2013-14 season.”