Sports
Kano Pillars Risk LMC Sanction
The League organisers are set to make a announcement on the ugly scenes which marred the playoff tie between Sai Masu Gida and the Flying Antelopes
The League Management Company (LMC) has stated that it is still comparing the notes of the match officials and others in connection with the Enugu Rangers and Kano Pillars fixture in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) Championship playoffs, which was marred by crowd violence on Monday.
The LMC opined that appropriate sanctions will be meted out to all those that directly or indirectly have a connection with the fracas at the Agege Stadium, Lagos shortly after the league encounter had ended in a 1-1 draw.
The matchday four Super Six game had ended peacefully, but fans allegedly loyal to Kano Pillars invaded the pitch at the end of game and hurled different types of objects towards the match officials and others in the stands.
The disgruntled fans are believed to have been protesting over the handling of the game by referee Adebimpe Quadri.
The problemw started when Quadri awarded a late penalty kick to the Flying Antelopes for the foul on Enugu Rangers’ Ifeanyi Egwin and a handball in the 18 yards box.
Rangers’ Godwin Aguda coolly slotted the spot kick in the 90th minute to cancel out the 58th-minute free-kick from Kano Pillars’ Rabiu Ali.
At the sound of the referee’s final whistle, Ali – who had earlier contested almost all of the referee’s calls which didn’t favour his team during the game – went straight to the referee and appeared to want to assault him, but he was repelled by some of his teammates who prevented him from getting closer to the official.
It was his continuous remonstration with the referee that irked the alleged Pillars fans, and they ran to the pitch in numbers in an attempt to accost the centre referee in solidarity with Ali, who they consider a cult hero.
The fans tore the dashboards at pitch-side into shreds and hurled them, and other objects, at the match officials and others in sight at the VIP section, and wanted to break through the barricade to gain entrance into the referees’ changing room.
The crowd was then overpowered by the security after some fans were injured.
A top official of the LMC, who craves anonymity, informed Tidesport source that the league body has begun an inquiry into the crowd violence and that the video and other evidence which could help the body in making an unbiased judgement are presently being studied, and that a pronouncement on it will be made very soon.
The official noted that Kano Pillars skipper Ali, and a few others in the club, have a case to answer for, but that they want to exhaust all the evidence before them before a decision is made to serve as a deterrent in future matches.
“We are going through the match report of all those that were involved in Monday’s game from the match commissioner to the referees and we are comparing that with the video footage available to us,” the official told Tidesports source.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that the Premier League leaders must win trophies if they were to be remembered like the “Invincibles” side that last won the title for the Gunners in 2004.
Arsene Wenger’s side romped to the title 22 years ago without losing a single league game.
Arsenal headede into last night’s clash at home to reigning champions Liverpool with a five-point lead at the top of the table after Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped points against Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, respectively on Wednesday.
Arteta’s men, runners-up for the past three seasons, have two more points and four more goals than Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ managed after 20 games.
But the Spaniard said those stats matter little unless Arsenal go on to win the league.
“No, because ‘the Invincibles’ won a lot,” Arteta told his pre-match press conference on whether his side can be considered better than Arsenal’s last title winners.
“They won consistently, and they created a history and a legacy, and we have to do that.”
The lone major piece of silverware won by Arsenal in six years under Arteta remains the 2020 FA Cup
“There are a lot of stats, but in the last two or three years we have managed more points and more goals than ever before. But at the end, we have to translate that to major trophies,” he added.
“Probably doing what we are doing now would have been enough (in 2004), but now it’s not, and we have to make the margins even bigger.”
Arsenal lost 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield back in August in what was billed as an early showdown between title rivals.
The defending champions headed to the Emirates 14 points off the top after a difficult second season for Arne Slot, but Arteta insisted the Reds remain a superb side.
The Gunners were without sidelined defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera but were“monitoring the load” on Kai Havertz as the Germany forward intensified his training while continuing to recover from a long-term leg injury.
Nigeria sharpshooters Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman will provide a stern test to the flawless record of Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, a son of French football icon Zinedine Zidane, in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in Morocco.
Zidane is the only first-choice goalkeeper amongst the eight quarter-finalists to have kept a clean sheet in all of his tournament matches so far, but the task facing him in Marrakesh tomorrow will not be easy.
Former African player of the year award-winners Osimhen and Lookman have tormented defences during the tournament, scoring three goals each.
Zidane, 27, kept clean sheets in group matches against Sudan and Burkina Faso before being rested against Equatorial Guinea.
He was recalled for a last-16 clash with the Democratic Republic of Congo and once again was unbeaten during a dramatic extra-time victory.
Former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, his Spanish wife and another son have been among the crowds in each match Luca played for the Desert Foxes.
“It is special when your family come to watch,” said Luca Zidane, who began his career with Real Madrid B in 2016 and now plays for Spanish second-tier side Granada.
Born in France, Zidane represented his country of birth at five age-limit levels. Under FIFA rules he could also play for Spain or Algeria, where his grandparents were born.
Zidane chose Algeria, debuting in a 2026 World Cup qualifying victory over Uganda last November and, when an injury ruled first choice Alexis Guendoez out of the AFCON, he was promoted.
“I am proud to represent Algeria and play in the Africa Cup of Nations. It is a great experience,” he told reporters.
“I try to be myself, to build my career on my terms, step by step,” he said.
Algeria have been an AFCON bogey team for Nigeria, winning four and drawing two of nine meetings, including a 5-1 drubbing of the Super Eagles en route to winning the 1990 tournament at home. But the current Super Eagles appear to be in the mood to get this one over the Algerians.
The Desert Foxes have put successive group-stage exits behind them under Bosnian coach Vladimir Petkovic and substitute Adil Boulbina unleashed a thunderbolt to eliminate DR Congo.
Nigeria are the 12-goal leading scorers in Morocco with Osimhen, Lookman and Akor Adams forming a potent frontline.
But coach Eric Chelle will be concerned that the three-time champions have conceded four, the most among the eight title hopefuls.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has said that the club would sell captain Marc Guehi this month if his asking price is met.
The England defender is out of contract in the summer and Manchester City have emerged as contenders to sign him during the January transfer window.
Palace blocked a proposed £35m move to Liverpool last summer but risk losing the 25-year-old for nothing at the end of the season.
City’s interest in Guehi has progressed following injuries to defenders Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias during Sunday’s draw against Chelsea.
“I’m not naive,” said Glasner, as reported by Tidesports source. “If a massive offer comes from City and Marc wants to do it, it will happen.”
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid are among the European clubs to have shown an interest in signing Guehi on a free transfer, and he can sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club from this month.
“If you’re just valuing sports, everyone in the club will say Marc has to stay,” Glasner added. “The chairman will tell you the same. But it’s not one-dimensional. If you see the financial situation, it’s very important.
“If somebody comes, there will be a moment when the club says ‘now the financial issue is more important than the sports issue’.
“There will be a threshold where the club has to say it will happen, as long as Marc says ‘I want to leave’, because the final decision is always with the player.”
Guehi helped Palace finish 12th last season and win the FA Cup to qualify for Europe for the first time in the club’s history.
The Eagles then won the Community Shield in August, beating Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties, and are 14th in the table and through to the knockout phase play-offs in the Uefa Conference League.
“The chairman rejected many offers in the summer because we want to play a successful season and wanted to win the Community Shield,” Glasner added. “Therefore, Marc is important, and then he rejected the offer.
“The threshold at that time, the money we got offered was not above it. Maybe it was close, but it was not above.”