Pillars retain title, 3SC relegated

Victor Namo

Kano Pillars successfully defended the Nigeria Premier League title they won last season despite losing 2-0 to Lobi Stars in their last league game on Sunday.

On a day four other teams were battling to survive relegation, Kano Pillars, Enyimba, Bayelsa and El Kanemi were competing to secure tickets for continental competitions through their top-place finish.

At the end of the day, Kano Pillars finished top of the log with 63 points ahead of Enyimba, who had 62 points after beating visiting Sharks 1-0 in Aba.

The top two teams will represent Nigeria in next year’s CAF Champions League, while Bayelsa United, who finished third, and Warri Wolves, who were runners-up in the Federation Cup, will play in the CAF Confederations Cup.

Both teams, like Kano Pillars, lost their last games on Sunday – Gombe beat Bayelsa United 1-0 just as Enugu Rangers defeated El Kanemi with a similar margin.

Kwara United, ABS, Wikki Tourists and Shooting Stars were relegated.

Kwara United finished with 50 points, same as ABS, while Wikki Tourists and Shooting Stars had 49 and 46 points respectively.

Kwara United had a better chance to stay up when they hosted Akwa United at Lokoja, but they failed to get the maximum points as their visitors, who needed just a point to remain in the top flight, battled to end the game 1-1.

As the season ended, Nasarawa United’s Victor Namo emerged as the highest goal scorer of the season with 19 goals after scoring the lone goal against Heartland in Lafia on Sunday.

The League Management Company will reward the 20 teams with N50m from the league sponsorship deal. The winners, Kano Pillars, will get N10m, while Enyimba will have N7.5m.

The second and third runners-up will be richer by N5m and N2.5m respectively, while the fifth, sixth and seventh placed teams will receive N2.1m, N1.95m and N1.9m respectively.

Teams that finished eighth, ninth and 10th will get N1.85m, N1.8m and N1.75m.

The teams in the 11th, 12th and 13th positions will be rewarded with N1.7m, N1.65m and N1.6m respectively. Others are 14th, (N1.5m), 15th (N1.4m), 16th (N1.3m), 17th (N1.25m), 18th (N1.2m) ,19th (N1.05m) and 20th (N1m).