Age-old syndrome ruining the league

Alaba Balogun of 3Sc charges at Peter Bako of zamfara united in a premiership match played on Sunday 13th November 201 at Kano pillar stadium Kano. Photo by 4to-sports

By Ifeanyi Ibeh


November 28, 2010 12:53AM


The 2010/2011 Nigerian Premier League season has been on for close to a month now and a couple of impressive performances have been recorded by clubs as they attempt to justify the ‘huge' resources expended on them by their sponsors.

But it appears the pressure to achieve success is gradually beginning to lead to the re-emergence of a disease that is as old as organized league football in Nigeria - the win-at-all-costs syndrome.

After the opening weekend of the new season, the Nigerian league and its organizers, the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) justifiably received applause for the series of impressive results recorded by clubs, mostly those playing away from home.

Kano Pillars set the ball rolling with a 1-1 draw against Kaduna United in the opening game of the season on November 6 before Dolphins travelled to Jos the following day, to post a 1-0 win over Plateau United. Newly promoted JUTH also achieved a respectable 1-1 draw against Sharks in Port Harcourt courtesy of a goal in added time by their Ghanaian import James Amankwei, while Zamfara United played out a goalless draw away to Bukola Babes.

Even Lobi Stars received commendation from Enugu Rangers' coach Alphonsus Dike after leaving Enugu, and with their heads up high, on the back of a 3-2 loss to the Flying Antelopes. The following weekend was even better for the away sides as six of the ten scheduled games ended in score draws most notably the encounter in Kano between Zamfara United and visiting Shooting Stars that saw the home side grabbing a very late equalizer through an own goal by the Ibadan side's Festus Iyonu.

Even more remarkable about the second round of matches was the fact that all the other drawn games ended 1-1 with the visitors coming from behind to draw level against their hosts, while the latest goal recorded on the score sheet, besides the Zamfara equalizer, was the 82nd minute goal by Omoh Ojabu which decided the outcome of the game in Port Harcourt between Dolphins and Rangers.

Then came last weekend's third round of matches and a whole lot that everyone was beginning to forget suddenly returned to the consciousness of followers of the Nigerian league.

Although Sunshine Stars recorded an away win - a 1-0 victory over Plateau United- while Heartland and JUTH recorded draws away from home, the weekend was blighted by the lone goal victory of Kwara United over Kano Pillars with the home side's winning goal arriving in the 95th minute courtesy of a penalty conversion by Isiaka Olawale. This was after the visitor's had seen their goalkeeper Theophilus Afelokhai sent off by the referee.

"It's so sad to lose a game in such manner; it wasn't fair on my players," recalled Salisu Yusuf, the Kano Pillars coach. "We had done everything we could and deserved to come out with a draw from that game but the referee felt otherwise and I wouldn't completely blame him for doing that; it happens all the time in our league." According to Mr Yusuf, a former Nigerian international, the match which was played at the Offa Township Stadium did not have enough security personnel on ground.

Inadequate security

"I don't think the security provided by the home team was enough to guarantee the safety of the officials and that is something the NPL should look at in order to forestall a recurrence this season," Yusuf added.

Under the rules and regulations of the ongoing Premier League season, it is the joint responsibility of the state FA and the Premier League club under its jurisdiction to provide security at match venues.

Article 3.4 (1) of the rules and regulations, which is specific about security at match venues on match days highlights that ‘a minimum of 50 law enforcement agents are required before the start of a game. However, the Match Commissioner shall commence matches if satisfied with the security available on ground.' It also stated in Article 3.4 (2) that ‘security personnel shall be detailed to match officials and the away team.' "Those are the rules," Emeka Nwani, the head of media of the NPL told NEXT. "The state FAs and the clubs under their jurisdiction must provide security at match venues.

"The NPL cannot take any decision on the Kwara United/Kano Pillars game until we get the official reports from both the match commissioner and the referee. But if the referee was intimidated or harassed in that game the match commissioner has the power to call off the game.

"And if this is indicated in his report three points and three goals will be deducted from the guilty club," added Nwani with reference to Article 3.7(2 and 3) of the rules and regulations.

Article 3.7 (1) states that: ‘where the match officials are harassed or intimidated,

Match Commissioners are empowered to call off or discontinue with the meetings and or the matches' while Article 3.7(3) states that: ‘upon receipt of the Match Commissioner's report, 3 points 3 goals shall be deducted from the already accrued points of the offending team, and the opponent shall be credited with 3 points and 3 goals.' "But referees are also humans, they make mistakes but it is not peculiar to Nigeria as it also happens in Europe," added Nwani referring to the last Wednesday's UEFA Champions League match between Braga and Arsenal; a match that was overseen with the experimental two additional penalty area referee's assistants.

"The referee ought to have awarded a penalty to Arsenal but he felt the player had dived and instead issued him a yellow card. That decision turned out to be crucial as Braga went on to score two goals and win the game.

Sanitizing the league

He then added that "The NPL will not sanitize the league in one year. In fact, we may need as much as five or six years to bring the league to a standard everyone will be proud to be associated with, but it is a gradual process and we're very much on track." The NPL sure appears to be on track with their efforts at sanitizing the league judging by the actions already taken by them in recent weeks.

Firstly, they fined Niger Tornadoes the sum of one million naira after their first and second choice goalkeepers appeared in unauthorized team jerseys in their game against Heartland.

The NPL also fined Rangers the sum of five hundred thousand naira after the name on the back of the jersey of one of its players in their 1-0 loss to Dolphins was discovered to have been done with the aid of a coloured pen.

"The rules are clear," continued Nwani "Rangers were fined just for simply using a coloured marker to indicate the name of a player on his jersey. The same thing happened to Niger Tornadoes.

"So if at the end of the day any team is discovered to have threatened the safety of match officials or visiting teams by not providing adequate security during matches then such a team will be sanctioned accordingly." The maximum penalty in this case, if it is proven that match

officials were harassed by club supporters or officials, even before, during or after pre-match meetings, is a fine of five million naira which according to Article 3.7(1), must be paid before the club's next home match.

Controversial Garden City derby

Undoubtedly, the biggest news from last weekend's matches was the controversial lone goal defeat inflicted on Dolphins by fierce Port Harcourt rivals Sharks.

The game was the most eagerly anticipated match of last weekend's games and was beamed live across Africa by SuperSport. Both sides actually tried to make a contest of it in the first half but it was a different kettle of fish in the second half as players of Dolphins literally went to sleep right after Sharks shot into the lead in the 64th minute through veteran forward Victor Ezeji.

Afterwards, Dolphins appeared content to leave the score line as it was as they made no effort to threaten their opponents thus fuelling rumours that the game's outcome might actually have been predetermined especially as both sides are jointly owned by the Rivers state government.

Both sides however vehemently denied the allegations while the NPL, through its chairman Davidson Owumi, stated that the league body will wait to receive the official report of the game before deciding on the next step adding that if the official report indicates that there was any sign of foul play, the NPL "will not hesitate to take action." Any action taken in this regard by the NPL will be in line with Article 4.5 which ensures that any club or clubs found guilty will be fined the sum of 20 million naira and expelled from the league.

In addition, the result of the match shall be cancelled and any individual found guilty of involvement in the act shall be banned from league related activities for a minimum period of five years.

There is however no provision in the NPL's rules and regulations guarding against the single ownership of clubs in the same competition by a single entity, which is a violation of Article 9 of the FIFA Club Licensing Regulations which prohibit a single natural or legal entity from direct or indirect ownership of multiple clubs, in the same competition.