Honourable Kunle Soname, the founder of Beyond Limits Football Academy has stated that the club’s management is still weighing its options regarding participating in the 2024/25 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season.
Beyond Limits won the 2023/24 Nigeria National League (NNL) and, by virtue, gained promotion to the NPFL alongside Nasarawa United, Ikorodu City, and President Federation Cup champions El-Kanemi Warriors.
Although unconventional, the rules governing the NPFL permit participating clubs to sell their slots to relegated sides provided they find common ground. This possibility birthed rumours of Beyond Limits favouring the sale of their slot rather than testing the NPFL waters for the first time since the academy was founded in 2016.
“The management of Beyond Limits are in talks to see if they can cope with the challenges of the NPFL vis-a-vis the financial and the physical commitment,” Soname told newsmen via Daily Sports.
“If they feel they can cope with it, they will play, but if not, they will have to think of other ways of monetising their laurel.”
“Football for us isn’t a social service, it’s a business,” he concluded.
Beyond Limits secured their NPFL promotion on June 12, courtesy of Kparobo Arierhi’s 27th-minute strike over Inter Lagos. It was a trophy-laden campaign for the Ikenne-based club who won the Viareggio Cup, the Ogun State Federation Cup, The Creative Championship (TCC) League, and Cup.
Controversies continue to trail their likely participation in the NPFL due to the conflict of interest that stems from their founder’s ownership of NPFL regular Remo Stars, who are also Beyond Limits’ parent club.
However, Beyond Limits insisted that though they share the same owner with Remo, both clubs are under different management, effectively exempting them from clause 5.0 of the NPFL framework on club ownership that says, “A person is not allowed to hold or acquire a significant interest in NPFL club while holding a significant interest in another NPFL club.”
Soname also argued that since Abia Warriors and Enyimba FC—who are both financed by the Abia State Government—simultaneously participate in the NPFL, Beyond Limits and Remo’s co-participation are equally permissible.
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