The board of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has described the annual Eunisell Golden Boot Award as “illegal”.
In a statement on Thursday, the league body threatened to write to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) if the award is not halted.
The Eunisell Golden Boot Award was established in 2018 to honour the NPFL’s top goalscorers with cash prizes and accolades.
The award is backed by Eunisell Limited, a chemical, oil and gas engineering company.
The 2025 edition of the award is billed to hold on June 13, and Anas Yusuf of Nasarawa United, who finished as the top scorer of the just concluded NPFL season with 18 goals, will be rewarded with N3.6 million.
Gbenga Elegbeleye, the chairman of the NPFL, said the award is “deliberate flouting of the naming rights” of the league.
He added that “it is not right for any persons or organisations to use the name of the NPFL and announce an award without recourse to the asset owners”.
“We are going to use every legal channel to protect our asset from this ambush of the NPFL. We will write to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission so that these illegal activities will stop once and for all,” Elegbeleye said.
“There must come a time when we must have to put a stop to end impunity no matter how long the illegality has been going on. This is the time and we must get things right.”
Since its inception in 2018, the Eunisell Boot prize has honoured five players for clinching the league’s top scorer spot.
The past winners are Junior Lokosa in 2018, Sunusi Ibrahim and Mfon Udoh in 2019, Israel Abia in 2020, and Chijioke Akuneto in 2022.
