NPFL broadcast right belongs to us, Total Promotions tells StarTimes, others

Akwa United will host Remo Stars in the first NPFL game to be broadcast live in the new StarTimes deal…this weekend.

Another legal battle may have cropped into the Nigeria Premier League as Total Promotions Nigeria Limited has warned StarTimes of the legal consequences of the recently signed broadcast agreement with the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).

In a letter dated November 9, 2023, signed by Mr. Funke Ajijo and addressed to the Chief Operations Officer of StarTimes Nigeria, Afribank House, Fatai Atere Way, Lagos, which was said to have been received by the legal officer of the company, Total Promotions claimed that the property signed for by StarTimes is not available, as it still resides with it.

In the letter entitled, ‘Television Broadcast Right for the Nigerian Premier League/Nigeria Football League,’ Total Promotions said: “We write to inform you that the property you claimed to have signed is not available as it is, at the very least, still residing in Total Promotions Nigeria Limited given very salient legal facts below.”

The letter highlights an interlocutory injunction against any parties tampering with the broadcast right between Total Promotions Nigeria Limited and Nigeria Football League in suit No: LD/997/2013, with the attachment of the injunction from the court.

The letter also drew the attention of StarTimes to the Nigeria Football act as the only legal authority by law governing football in Nigeria, saying by the act, the Nigeria Football Association conferred on the Nigeria Football Limited (not NPFL) the right to run the Premier League.

“By this act, only Nigeria Football League has the legal ownership of all matters relating to the league,” the letter stated in part, adding that the article and