Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) Sporting Director, Tobi Adepoju Samuel has been reprimanded by the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) for making false and disparaging social media posts against the person and office of its Chairman, Otunba Gbenga Elegbeleye.
In a post on X, Samuel claimed that Elegbeleye, as the NPFL Chairman, approved stadiums with poor playing pitches for matches of the elite league. He further claimed that the club players have been injured as a result of playing on poor pitches.
In a letter of reprimand, NPFL’s Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi chided Samuel for peddling wrong information capable of conveying the wrong perception of the person of the Chairman and the league itself.
Owumi wrote: ‘Our attention has been drawn to a false claim you made on the microblogging platform, known as X. in which you maliciously accused the Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Otunba Gbenga Elegbeleye of approving the use of a stadium which caused injury to players of your club.
‘The allegation, which has been published by NaijaFooty, an online blog, is patently false because Elegbeleye and the NPFL are not responsible for stadium approval, which fall under infrastructure requirements of the Nigeria Football Federation Club Licensing Regulations’.
Owumi accused the club officer of bringing the office of the NPFL Chairman to disrepute and also casting aspersions on the NPFL as a body contrary to Rule A5.5.2 of the NPFL Framework and Rules.
The rule provides that “no club, either by itself, its servants or agents shall by any means whatsoever unfairly criticise, disparage, belittle or discredit the NPFL or any of its directors, officers, employees or agents’.
He noted that clubs and the NPFL share communication channels through which complaints can always be lodged.
He cited a recent case of Abia Warriors that filed a complaint against a referee that officiated their Matchday 14 fixture in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, with a video evidence forwarded.
‘They could have gone to the media to criticise the referee and the league, but they did the right thing by sending a petition with evidence, and which has been referred to the Referees Appointment Committee for a review of the referee’s performance’, Owumi revealed.
The letter of reprimand directed Samuel to publish the correct situation of club licencing, apologise to the Chairman and show cause why the NPFL would not impose disciplinary measures on him.
