Few days after the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) issued a practice directive to clubs on dress codes for the technical crew and players, Katsina United was found to have flouted the code during their Matchday 11 fixture in Lagos against Sporting Lagos.
A Katsina United player wore a jersey that was inappropriately numbered and the NPFL has not only sanctioned the club but is also reporting the match officials to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for dereliction of duty in allowing the player come into the game on Sunday.
NPFL’s Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi said that the regulatory role of the body is to identify, investigate acts that might undermine the integrity of the NPFL and impose appropriate sanctions based on the provisions of the Framework and Rules.
“Our rules have sufficiently made provisions to keep away conducts that are inimical to the overall best interest of the clubs, their players and fans.
“While we cannot stop any club or individual from certain behaviours, we definitely would not condone such misconduct and would always apply sanctions to serve as deterrence”, he said.
Owumi is particularly peeved at the case of Katsina United which he noted has occurred in just over a week when the NPFL issued a practice directive on dress codes for managers and players, which was shared with match commissioners and referees.
Katsina United, Gombe United and Niger Tornadoes came under sanctions in the most recent tranche of regulatory enforcement announced by the NPFL on Monday after investigations into reported breaches of the NPFL Framework and Rules.
Katsina United was found in breach of Rule B9.7 for inappropriate display of the surname of Ibrahim Yahay with jersey No. 27.
In a second charge, the club was found to have breached Rule C9 in failing to ensure the proper conduct of its officials which resulted in the Kit Manager of the club attempting to harass the Assistant Referee I.
For the cited breaches, Katsina United has been ordered to pay N1 million for the inappropriate display of the player’s name and number, while the Kits Manager, Masudu Lawal received a one year ban from all NPFL activities for improper conduct
In the aftermath of fans unruly conduct in another Matchday 11 fixture, Gombe United were fined N7 million and a one match stadium ban to fans for breaches ranging from disruption of match by fans throwing objects on to the field of play, to disruption of live broadcast of the match and failure to provide adequate and effective security.
In a case arising from Matchday 10 between Niger Tornadoes and Akwa United, the former was charged with breach of Rule B8.21, C9 and C1.1 for which it was fined N3.250 million including compensatory payment to the Centre Referee.
The sanctions include a fine of N1 million for failure to provide adequate and effective security for match officials. Another fine of N1 million for failure to ensure the proper conduct of its officials (stewards/security personnel).
There was a third fine of N1 million for misconduct and a N250,000 compensatory payment to a referee (Ahmad Rabiu from Kano State Referees Council) for losses resulting from the harassment.
The Ahmadu Bello Stadium home ground of Niger Tornadoes has been ordered closed to fans for the next three home fixtures of the club.
Owumi said that all three clubs are free to submit to the decisions or elect to appear before a disciplinary commission for a review. This they must communicate in writing to the NPFL Legal and Compliance Unit within 48 hours.
