Heartland Fume Over NNL Reschedule Snub As Promotion Hopes Fade

Heartland FC have expressed their profound dissatisfaction with the Nigeria National League (NNL) following the league’s refusal to reschedule their crucial Conference A clash against Edel FC.

The match, played last Saturday at the Awka City Stadium, ended in a goalless draw, a result that extinguished the Naze Millionaires’ hopes of securing promotion back to the top flight.

Club officials immediately voiced their frustrations after the final whistle, criticising the domestic second-tier league organisers for declining their request to move the fixture to Sunday.

Heartland argued that the shift would have provided much-needed recovery time after their arduous journey from Lagos, where they had played a midweek match against Inter Lagos.

The four-time Nigerian champions highlighted what they perceived as an inconsistency in the NNL’s decision-making, pointing out that Inter Lagos’s subsequent match was rescheduled to Monday, 6 April 2026.

“We wrote to the NNL to shift our match against Edel FC to Sunday so that we could rest after our trip from Lagos, but they refused,” lamented officials almost in unison. “But the same NNL shifted Inter Lagos’ match to Monday, 6 April.

The same Inter that played at home against us on Wednesday still had their next game moved to Monday, while we, who travelled to and from Lagos with its attendant fatigue, were forced to play 48 hours after our return.”

However, NNL Executive Chairman, George Aluo, responded to the allegations, explaining that the Awka City Stadium was unavailable on Sunday due to a prior booking. “There was communication to us that Awka City Stadium had been scheduled for a function on Sunday by the Anambra State Government,” Aluo clarified.