Coach Ali Zubair of Kwara
Utd FC of Ilorin, has bemoaned the ban of spectators from the club’s home matches at the Kwara State Stadium, Ilorin, in the ongoing Globacom League.
Zubair disclosed this to newsmen, moments after his team defeated Gombe United FC 2-0, in a week 32 match played on Wednesday at the stadium.
The match was played behind closed doors due to the League Management Company (LMC) ban on spectators at the stadium.
The spectators were banned from the stadium because of an attack on a match official in a week 28 encounter involving Kwara Utd and Warri Wolves.
Zubair said that fans played a significant role during matches, saying that spectators were part of the game and that they made the players to feel more at home.
“We prepared well for this match; the only thing we are missing is the spectators, but even at that, we had a very good match,’’ Zubair said.
The coach, however, insisted that the team was still nursing the ambition of picking one of the three continental tickets available in the league.
He said the fact that they have the best away record this season showed that they could still make the continental berth.
Uche John put the Afonja Warriors ahead in the 54th minute, before Evans Iyoro scored a superb volley from the midfield, to give the home team a two nil win over visiting Gombe Utd.
Kwara Utd, which lost their last two away matches to Kaduna Utd and El-kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri, are presently sixth on the log, with 47 points from 31 games.
Meanwhile, Coach Maurice Cooreman of Gombe has described the Kwara Utd team as a strong squad.
The Belgian said his team held the first half of the match, but noted that everything turned against his team in the second half, which resulted in the two goals they conceded.
The coach added that his boys missed a lot of scoring chances, saying that it was the problem his boys always had during away matches.
Cooreman noted that there was no implication losing the match because he was not fighting for anything this season.