The Nationwide League One has concluded a three-day intensive professional development retreat for its staff as preparations intensify for the 2025/26 football season.
The retreat, held at Sentinel Apartments and Suites in Abuja, brought together participants from key departments within the NLO Secretariat as the league begins its countdown to the new campaign.
A major focus of the training was fixture planning and confirmation. Staff reviewed procedures for finalising match schedules, confirming dates, kick-off times, venues and home or away status while checking for possible conflicts such as international windows, adverse weather periods and double-headers.
NLO representatives are required to verify fixture acceptance by both clubs, confirm venue changes where necessary and monitor club licensing status, initial venue suitability and broadcasting or sponsorship commitments.
Venue and infrastructure approval was another critical area discussed. Inspections are to be conducted between two and four weeks before matchday. NLO representatives must ensure that home stadiums meet league standards, including pitch quality, drainage systems, floodlights, safety barriers, dressing rooms, scoreboards, ticketing systems and media facilities.
Only stadiums approved by the Nigeria Football Federation will host matches. The league also confirmed that over 80 per cent of matches will be live streamed as part of its commercial drive, with Zkyte Technology conducting test runs in the opening week of the season.
Match officials’ appointments must be confirmed according to league protocols, including referees, assistants and fourth officials, as well as reserve officials. Clubs are required to register at least two coaches, a team manager, media officer and medical officer or doctor.
During the compliance, registration and logistics stage, which takes place one to two weeks before fixtures, clubs must submit squad lists and player registrations in line with eligibility rules and transfer regulations. Kit approvals and sponsorship compliance will also be verified.
NLO representatives are tasked with coordinating security arrangements, including police deployment, stewards and risk assessments for high-risk matches. Medical services, including ambulance presence and emergency equipment, must also be confirmed alongside anti-doping procedures.
Ticketing oversight, broadcasting arrangements and team logistics form part of the operational checks before matchday.
Final pre-match inspections will include pitch assessments, facility walkthroughs and safety equipment verification. Coordination meetings with clubs, officials, security personnel and broadcasters will review kick-off timing, team protocols and emergency procedures.
On matchday, NLO representatives must arrive several hours early to verify team arrivals, confirm squad lists, supervise warm-ups and ensure pre-match protocols are followed. Crowd management, security compliance, broadcasting quality and incident logging will be closely monitored to guarantee smooth execution of fixtures.
The retreat underlines the NLO’s commitment to raising operational standards as Nigeria’s grassroots league prepares for a new season.
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