Nigeria National League (NNL) Chairman, George Aluo, has officially stepped into the firing line to answer that question, firmly defending the eligibility of Remo Stars and Beyond Limits Football Academy to compete next season.
Both clubs are funded by renowned businessman and football investor Kunle Soname. While the setup has raised serious alarms over potential conflicts of interest, match-fixing vulnerabilities, and sporting bias, the league insists everything is completely above board.
“On Paper, It’s Legal” — The NNL Explains Why
Addressing the growing skepticism, Aluo revealed that the Ikenne-based clubs have meticulously structured their operations to ensure they do not violate any existing regulatory frameworks.
“On paper, the two clubs have completely different ownership and management structures,” Aluo told Sport Village Square.
Critics have pointed out that both teams share world-class training facilities and resources under the Remo umbrella, but the NNL Chairman brushed off those concerns as circumstantial rather than a breach of law.
“Sharing facilities doesn’t automatically amount to a breach of integrity,” Aluo argued, shifting the focus to how the clubs operate independently on a day-to-day administrative level.
The League’s Strategy to Prevent Collusion
While the NNL maintains that Soname’s dual-investment model is legal, they aren’t completely blind to the optics of the situation.
To silence doubters and guarantee a level playing field, the league management has devised a tactical scheduling strategy for the upcoming season.
“To preserve sporting integrity, we will ensure that Remo Stars and Beyond Limits are placed in completely different groups,” Aluo promised.
By keeping the “brother clubs” segregated in the group stages, the NNL hopes to prevent any scenarios where one team could intentionally drop points to benefit the other. However, if both teams advance to the Super Eight promotional playoffs, a dramatic, high-stakes collision course will be completely unavoidable. All eyes will be on Ikenne to see how this unprecedented dual-ownership experiment unfolds.
