The Nation Newspaper

Tag: hooliganism

  • Pinnick reiterates zero tolerance for hooliganism

    Pinnick reiterates zero tolerance for hooliganism

    NFF President Amaju Pinnick has emphasized that any stadium in the country where any act of hooliganism is unleashed will face severe sanctions while guilty teams will not go unpunished.

    The NFF boss spoke as the second half of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) resumed on Sunday.

    “We have made it very clear, through our channels and through the LMC channels, that there will be zero tolerance for hooliganism in our stadia. The first stanza has been praised by all stakeholders from far and near, and it is contingent upon us all to consolidate on the gains in the areas of credible officiating, people-friendly stadia and flawless administration of games.

    “The NFF will continue to work assiduously with the League Management Company (LMC) to ensure that we continue to improve on all aspects of the League. The League is the foundation of the Nigeria game and we will be deceiving ourselves if we think it does not matter.”

    Pinnick urged clubs involved in the Glo NPFL League (as well as the other leagues) to set much store by the maintenance of people–friendly arenas, while emphasizing that monitoring of match officials will be even more thorough in the second round.

    “The first half has gone well, and we are all delighted. But we cannot afford to rest on our oars. Everyone is saying good things about the League but we must realise that it is always easier to reach the top than to stay there.

    “All hands must be on deck to ensure that rather than have a decline in any area, we continuously improve on every area and by so doing, encourage even more fans to attend matches at the various stadia.”

  • Gombe Utd fans warned on hooliganism

    Gombe Utd fans warned on hooliganism

    Still basking in the euphoria of back to back  home and away wins, fans of Gombe United have been advised to keep out of trouble in order not to risk banishing the team from home soil as this may not augur well for their battle against relegation.

    They were banished to Bauchi for three matches in the first half of the on-going league season due to fans’ unruly behaviour towards match officials and visiting team.

    A die-hard fan of the club, Alhaji Saleh Sa’adu (Onyebuchi) thought it wise to advise others fans because the club cannot risk banishment from home in this critical and trying time.

    “Akwa United FC was our first home opponent this half of the league and it went well. The next will be Crown FC on Wednesday next week.

    “All we need do is to cheer our boys to victory, not to boo them or cause trouble for them. Being rude to our visitors will only put Gombe Utd under undue pressure,” he emphasised.

    He implored all fans to pray for another away miracle against Heartland today, while trying to persuade Gombe United management to always travel with the team’s Supporters’ Club for morale booster.

    He said a lot of fans are angry over the sacking players like Habu Idris and Bilyaminu Aminu, pleading management to recall and give them the remaining of the season to prove themselves before wielding the axe if they fail to impress.

    Saleh who spoke from fan’s perspective said management needed to be close to the fans and feel their pulse in order to give them some sense of belonging and enhanced relationships.

    He commended Austin Eguavoen’s bright start and expressed optimism in his ability to salvage the club.

     

  • Seven arrested for hooliganism

    Seven arrested for hooliganism

    • During NPL match in Bauchi

    Wikki Tourists FC of Bauchi on Tuesday said seven suspects had been arrested for their alleged role in an invasion of the pitch during a league match against visiting El Kanemi FC of Maiduguri.

    The club’s chairman, Sule Chindo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the suspects were arrested by security personnel in Bauchi.

    Chindo added that investigations were ongoing to ascertain the roles played by each of them in disrupting the Globacom Premier League (GPL) match. He said that the match, played on July 21, was interrupted because of a pitch invasion by some supporters of Wikki Tourists, after they alleged that the referee was biased.

    The chairman warned that, henceforth, any supporter or fan that disrupted a match would not be spared, noting that some of the people were being used by the club’s detractors.

    “Henceforth, we will not allow any so-called supporter or fan to cause problems for us. We realise that some enemies of the club are using some irresponsible persons to cause commotion in the field so that Wikki can be penalised by the NFF,” he said.

    He further said that the suspects would be prosecuted after the investigations.

    NAN recalls that the people invaded the pitch after referee Sylvester Okobi allowed a goal in favour of El-Kanemi in the second half. The protesters alleged that Okobi had earlier denied Wikki Tourists a penalty kick.

    It was immediately after the alleged refusal that the visitors had a counter attack and registered the goal.

    NAN also recalls that the police had to fire tear gas to disperse the mob before order was restored. The match was played at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi.

     

  • LAGOS JUNIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE Lagos’ll punish hooliganism in football —Oshodi

    LAGOS JUNIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE Lagos’ll punish hooliganism in football —Oshodi

    Last Saturday the Management of the Lagos Junior Football League organised an award night to reward excellence. The event which was held at the Molade Okoya Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium saw top names in the football fraternity gracing the occasion.  Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Wahid Enitan Oshodi expressed the determination of the State to put an end to hooliganism in football. He spoke on several issues including his ambition to lead the NTTF to greater heights. INNOCENT AMOMOH was there. Excerpts. 

    What effort are you making to end hooliganism in football in the State?

    The only penalty for hooliganism will be expulsion from the league. We have to be very serious about it. This is Lagos the centre of excellence we don’t want people fighting, and challenging the referees’ decisions, but also conversely we need to ensure that the referees are upright and fair in their decisions.

    How far will the advent of the Lagos Junior league help in the area of age falsification?

    With the age cheating issue, we are working with the ministry of education. This is very critical, you know His Excellency has made remarks in this regard overtime, we need to get the real ages of these players and that is what gives them better opportunities of developing quickly. Everybody is quite aware, over-aged players, two, three years down the line they are out and nothing happens, Nigeria is the eventual loser. So what we are looking at now is to ensure that these players are within the age bracket. If it will mean using other technologies to detect, it will be the right step for the future. Of course all these need financing and sponsorship, but if we keep fielding over-aged players, we deceive ourselves.

    How will you assess this beautiful occasion of the award night of the Lagos Junior League?

    I have to give a lot of credit to the management of the Junior League for putting this together, especially Mr. Yemi Idowu, and his Executive Secretary for working so hard. You can see how important this is to Nigerian football, for the President and members of the NFF board to be here, it tell us we are on the right track. But like everything we do in Lagos we seek to want to improve and God willing next year will be better.

    What is the relationship between the Junior League and the Clubs you have in Lagos State?

    The Junior League working with our Football Association in Lagos, it just makes sense that the clubs themselves should watch the Junior League which is an affiliate of the state FA, get their coaches and scouts to watch these players, and we expect the players to move to club sides that will help them develop better. That is why we have the capacity of somebody like Tunde Disu, who is the Technical Director of the league, who brings these players together at the end of the season, the FA is here overseeing probably the most interesting under age football scheme in the country, aligning that with the Junior League, speaks volume of the secret of the success we are recording in Lagos. The football tournament of the 18th National Sports Festival for the first time was won with a very young side 70% of them still in school, this gives us hope for the future.

    How will you describe your victory at the zonal election into the board of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation?

    Winning at the zonal is not all that matters, but the important thing is how to transform Nigerian sports. People concentrate on football when what we are talking about is over 30 sports. The essence of the elections is getting the right people into the board of the federations, who are willing to work hard and move sports forward. Ibadan election was the beginning of it.

    What should we expect from you if you eventually get elected as the President of the NTTF?

    Same as usual, hard work, dedication, and hopefully we are able to bring in sponsors. The programmes are already there. We all know what needs to be done but there’s a lot of problems with commitment and that is what we do very well we are very commitment to our sport. We will source for finances in the private sector to develop the sport. The truth is that we are not playing enough tournament, we are not training coaches, those are some of the things that should be done at the national federation. With people of like minds, that will come from the zones, hopefully if things go well in the next couple of years we will see a big boost in table tennis in Nigeria.