NPFL Urged to Prioritise Players’ Welfare After Heartland Gets Transfer Ban

Moses Etu has called on the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) to improve the welfare of its players, complaining that it is “a shame” that FIFA must intervene to remind the league of its duties. The demand follows a transfer ban placed on Heartland FC of Owerri due to unpaid wages owed to former Ivorian midfielder N’goran Roland Adjoumani Koffi.

FIFA’s Head of Disciplinary, Americo Espallargas, signed the sanction which prevents Heartland from registering new players internationally or domestically. The ban will remain in force until the club settles the outstanding payment in full. If that does not happen promptly, it could extend through three consecutive transfer windows.

Etu, a former chairman of Warri Wolves, described the decision as exposing “the lack of professionalism, weak contract enforcement, and systemic neglect that have long plagued Nigerian club football.” He remarked: “We are not really running a professional league in Nigeria… When it comes to players’ welfare, it’s zero.” Much of the problem, he added, involves clubs neglecting salary and accommodation payments, sometimes for months.

He urged the NPFL to institute stricter financial compliance similar to those in the banking sector. Each club, he said, should have an officer tasked with monitoring salaries and ensuring payments. If clubs fail, the league must act immediately rather than wait for international bodies to step in.

Etu called the ban “an embarrassment” but also a wake-up call “It’s a shame that it takes FIFA to remind us of our responsibilities. Until we make players’ welfare a top priority, we’ll keep losing our best talents and struggling in continental competitions.”

Editorial

We have watched for too long as the Nigerian football system skirts around its obligations. The transfer ban imposed on Heartland FC is not merely a punishment for one club’s failure; it is a reflection of a wider malaise across our domestic leagues. We cannot maintain the idea that Nigerian football can flourish while systemic neglect of player welfare persists.

Players are the foundation of the sport. Without them, there is no competition, no fans, no excitement only hollow promises. Yet, we see clubs dragging out salary payments, failing to honour contracts, leaving players in limbo. That some receive as little as ₦250,000 or ₦300,000 a month and often not even that should horrify us all. A professional league that allows this is, in truth, not professional at all.

We must insist that the NPFL board demand financial discipline. Let every club season begin only after proving capacity showing bank guarantees, audited financial statements, and clear evidence that all contracted staff and players can be paid fully. We should establish compliance officers in each club, mandated to report irregularities and hold board members accountable. If any club defaults, the league must act swiftly and decisively not after external bodies force the issue.

The embarrassment caused by FIFA’s intervention is not just to Heartland FC it is to every stakeholder in Nigerian football—from the administrators to the spectators who believe in this game. If we continue to allow neglected contracts and broken promises, our best players will depart, our clubs will falter in continental competition, and our national teams will suffer. We believe that true progress hinges on viewing players’ welfare not as an afterthought but as core to growing the sport. Unless that changes, we will keep reaping shame when the rest of the world points out what we already know.

Did You Know?

1. The FIFA regulation often cited in cases of unpaid debts allows registration bans for clubs in default for up to three registration periods.
2. Heartland FC was relegated from the NPFL to the Nigeria National League (NNL) in the most recent season.
3. The Nigeria NNL has recently suspended clubs (including Heartland and others) from registration due to indebtedness to players, coaches, or administrators.
4. The NFF Players’ Status and Arbitration Committee (PSAC) has directed Heartland to pay outstanding entitlements to several former players including Umah Johnson, Esobe Chukwudi and Ezekiel Bassey.
5. Moses Etu believes the only area where he has observed improvement under the current NPFL board is officiating, but that when it comes to players’ welfare, “it’s zero.”