The vice-chairman of Nigerian side, Lobi Stars FC, Mike Idoko has denied that he voted in favour of using the Points Per Game (PPG) to end the 2019/2020 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.
In a statement released on Thursday by the club, Idoko reiterated his stand against using the PPG.
He said contrary to media reports making the rounds from the aftermath of the football stakeholders virtual meeting Wednesday 24th June, 2020 to adopt a suitable mechanism to end the NPFL 2019/2020 that he voted for PPG, he had persistently opposed the use of PPG.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and League Management Company (LMC) had on Wednesday met and upheld its earlier decision to end the season following the coronavirus outbreak.
18 clubs were said to have voted for the Points Per Game (PPG) rule to determine the clubs that will represent the country in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup but Enugu Rangers and Akwa United opposed the rule.
Idoko was rumoured to have voted in favour of PPG as a means to calculate the league standing bringing the total number of clubs in affirmation to 18 in a social media post by Usman Bature.
With the position, League leaders Plateau United and second-placed Enyimba will play in the CAF Champions League, while Rivers United, who placed third will feature in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Aiteo Cup holders Kano Pillars will join Rivers United in the CAF Confederation while there will also be no relegation or promotion.
But Idoko has said he can only accept PPG on the condition that there is an equal number of games played by all teams.
“I repeated the same during the virtual meeting.
“My suggested options to arrive at an equal number of games were that we revert to the week no club recorded any outstanding game. Also, all other clubs should sacrifice week 21-25 and allow the table to be calculated on week 20 as the club with the highest number of outstanding games played 20 games.
“Lobi Stars have not and never been against league cancellation or out to disrupt the process of reaching an amicable end but are only seeking utmost fairness. I call on Lobi Stars fans, the government of Benue State, Board and management of Lobi Stars to disregard the unfounded rumour that I voted for PPG mechanism as a means to ending the league,” he said.
