By Emeka Dennar
Rivers United head coach Finidi George has hailed the National Sports Commission (NSC) for drastically increasing the prize-money for Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) champions to N1 billion.
Last month NSC chairman Shehu Dikko announced that winners of the 2026/2027 NPFL will receive a mouth-watering N1billion, a huge rise from the N200m Rangers International pocketed by winning the league last season. The NSC boss also disclosed that the runners-up will receive ₦500 million, while the third-placed team will earn ₦300 million.
The ex-Super Eagles coach believes the new prize-money will enable the eventual champions to acquire more quality players.
While commending the move, Finidi, who led Enyimba to the NPFL title in 2023, however, charged the NSC to do even more.
“We must commend them (for increasing the prize-money to N1billion),” the 55-year-old former Ajax star told Exceed Media. “But insofar as I commend them for that effort, we still expect them to do more. Maybe, if it is N5 or N6 Billion, that will be massive.
“Then the second-placed and third-placed teams should get something huge as well, so they can make better recruitment that would strengthen the league.
“But like I said earlier, I want to commend them for that effort. It is not easy sourcing for money, but it’s a good way to start.”
In his two seasons at Rivers United, Finidi has guided the Port Harcourt side to two consecutive second-place finishes. He is now hoping to lead the Pride of Rivers to the NPFL title next season and claim the record N1billion prize-money, which he believes will be invested in his team.
“We would be looking forward to winning it, so we will get that amount of money.” he added. “Maybe, use it wisely to acquire players from other African countries to further fortify our team.”
The 2026/2027 NPFL season will get underway on Friday, 28 August.
Last term, Rangers claimed the title, while Rivers United finished second.
