Sports
“NPFL Will To Ban Pillars If Fans Breach The Rules”
The Chief Operating Officer of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Davidson Owumi, has said that the league body will not hesitate to again banish Kano Pillars from playing at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina if the local fans continue to breach the league’s framework, Tidesports source reports.
Kano Pillars were indefinitely banished to Katsina last month after their fans invaded the pitch and attacked match officials and players of Shooting Stars during their NPFL matchday eight fixture on October 12.
The former champions have since played three home games at their new ground, but the unruly behaviour of the Katsina fans, who also attacked a Barau FC player, during their club’s fixture on November 8, has forced the league body to keep another eye on the ground.
After banishing Katsina United to Jos, which has been changed to Ilorin upon appeal, Chief Operating Officer of the NPFL, Owumi, noted that the league body will keep an eye on Kano Pillars, who are currently playing their home matches in Katsina.
“We are also watching Kano Pillars, who are still playing in Katsina, and if we have any reason to send them out of that place too, we will,” Owumi said during an interview.
Meanwhile, newcomers Barau FC, who also play their home matches at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano, have been playing their matches behind closed doors since the Kano Pillars fans incident in October.
“For Barau, we are still watching with some sensitivity. They wrote that they wanted some of their home games to be played behind closed doors. If they have enough security to handle the crowd, they will write to us to grant that request. If anything happens, we will hold them responsible,” Owumi added.
Kano Pillars also suffered a three-point and a three-goal deduction after the 3SC incident, compounding their woes in the league.
They are bottom of the league table with just six points, yet to win in their seven matches, while they have a huge goal deficit of -11 after scoring five and conceding 16.
Their next game is against league leaders Ikorodu City on Monday.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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