Nigerian Premier League Hooligans on rampage
There is no single season in the Nigeria Premier League that has come and gone without ugly incidents of irate fans attacking visiting clubs and sometimes officials who officiated matches that did not go their way. Some of the match venues have become death traps for visiting clubs and match officials. Most times, referees pray […]
There is no single season in the Nigeria Premier League that has come and gone without ugly incidents of irate fans attacking visiting clubs and sometimes officials who officiated matches that did not go their way. Some of the match venues have become death traps for visiting clubs and match officials. Most times, referees pray fervently for the referees appointment committee to keep them away from such ‘killer venues’.
The leadership of the NPL has on several occasions wielded the big stick in attempt to curb the menace but the monster appears to have developed a thick sin. The more the NPL attempts to eradicate hooliganism, the more hooligans who pretend to be football fans wreck havoc. Punitive measures are most times meted out as clubs are either asked to play behind closed doors or banished to far away venues. All these have ended like water splashed on the back of a duck.
Last season, at least six clubs were banished from their venues because of acts of hooliganism. Most of the incidents involved Sunshine Stars of Akure which many accused of masterminding the incidents in order to place their perceived title rivals at disadvantage.
Even as the second stanza of the current season has just started, not fewer than four clubs have either played behind closed doors or are banished to other centres due to acts of hooliganism. Pillars played behind closed doors after Heartland claimed they were attacked after they held the Kano State team to a 1-1 draw. Heartland of Owerri also suffered a similar fate when they were banished to Calabar after their fans attacked Enyimba at their adopted home in Enugu after suffering a 3-2 defeat. Kwara United and ABS of Ilorin who share the Kwara Township Stadium also played behind closed doors after fans of Kwara United unleashed mayhem on visiting Sunshine Stars of Akure.
At the moment, Gombe United, Sharks of Port-Harcourt and Wikki Tourists are in the news for the same wrong reason. Fans believed to be supporters of the clubs reportedly attacked their opponents in their week 22 encounters. They have since incurred the wrath of the NPL.
Gombe United allegedly attacked players and officials of 3SC of Ibadan even after their 2-1 victory over the visitors. At the Tafawa Balewa stadium Bauchi, home side, Wikki Tourists reportedly attacked players and officials of Rangers of Enugu. In Port-Harcourt, fans of Sharks were on rampage as they brutalized players and officials of Ocean Boys right inside their dressing room. The match could not hold.
In a swift reaction, NPL secretariat pronounced hefty fines on the erring clubs. Consequently, Gombe United has been fined N2m and would play their home matches behind closed doors pending the outcome of the NFF disciplinary committee decision on the case. 3SC officials also claimed bodily injuries but NPL has since said evidence before it was not strong enough to prove the allegation.
In a similar development Wikki Tourists have been fined N2m and would pay other fines in addition to the N2m. Wikki will also play their matches behind closed doors. For the attack on Ocean Boys, Sharks have been fined N3m and will play their matches behind closed doors.
For those who crave for a violence free-league, these are steps in the right direction. However, what is worrisome is the response from the affected clubs. None of them has taken the punitive measures in good fate as each has condemned the decision of the NPL.
First to react to the decision of the NPL was the General Manager of Sharks, Mr. Kpalukwu Okey who was reported as saying his club was not going to pay the fine until the NFF disciplinary and organizing committee gives such directive.
Similarly, the Executive Chairman of Gombe State Sports Commission, Malam Farouk Yarma told Shot! that Gombe United would not pay the fine because it is wrong to have two disciplinary committees.
According to him, the NPL secretariat has sadly hijacked the functions meant for the Organizing and Disciplinary Committee of the NFF.
“How can we pay such fine?. It is not possible because we have not been fined by the appropriate authority. In the first place we have not been given fair hearing. Nobody cared to listen to our own side of the story.
“They did not read the reports of the match officials and the match commissioner before that decision was taken. We cannot even discuss the fine until the Organizing and Disciplinary Committee of the NFF looks into the case on ground”, he stated.
On his part, acting Executive Secretary of the NPL, Mr. Tunji Babalola told Shot! that the clubs have not written officially to the secretariat to convey their position on the fines which to him is a sign that they would pay before their next home games.
According to him, acts of hooliganism were committed before the fines were imposed on the affected clubs. Therefore, the clubs should see the fines as punitive measures aimed at stamping out hooliganism in the NPL.
“ None of the clubs has written formally to say it will not pay the fine. They are just talking on the pages of newspapers. They know they must pay because they themselves know acts of hooliganism were perpetrated in their venues.
“They know the consequences of not paying their fines. If they do not pay before their next home games, it is going to be walk over against them. This is clearly spelt out in the rules and regulations. We are not witch-hunting anyone. Our singular desire is to weed out hooliganism in our match venues”, he explained.
In the past the NPL was accused of handling cases of hooliganism with kid gloves. Such lackadaisical attitude had inevitably created avenue for clubs to convert their homes grounds into slaughter slabs, making it practically impossible for visiting clubs to even draw matches not to talk of winning out rightly.
Consequently, football pundits are of the opinion that if the present leadership of the NPL is to be taken seriously on its much publicized talk about bringing back the lost glory of the league, there must be no sacred cows in cases involving hooliganism at match venues. The reason is simple- clubs cannot claim that the hooligans who attack visiting clubs to favour them are spirits.