The League Management Company, LMC, has said that the perpetrators of the incident at Uyo in Akwa Ibom State, where a referee was allegedly assaulted and the match subsequently abandoned, would be sanctioned. The LMC Chairman, Nduka Irabor, said on Saturday in Lagos that the body will ensure that appropriate steps were taken to address the misdemeanour. Wednesday’s league encounter was abandoned midway, when Henry Ogunyanmodi was allegedly attacked by some fans, while Akwa United was leading 2-0. Mr. Irabor described the incident, which was shown live on satellite television, as a disgrace and a commercial disaster for the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). “We shall apply the rules strictly. The incident in Uyo is a national disgrace and a commercial disaster to our league. There are values to this league that must be respected. “We’ve told all the match commissioners and referees to speed up their reports and we’re not going to wait for too long to take action. “In fact, we shall have criminal proceedings brought against some people if we are able to verify some of the things we have heard,” he said. Meanwhile, the LMC has rejected an appeal by Rangers International of Enugu to lift the six match closed-door sanction imposed on its fans. Fans of Rangers were banned in April, after an alleged assault on a referee in their encounter against Warri Wolves at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu. Mr. Irabor disclosed that Rangers, who had seen five out of the six match closed-door sanction, will play its next home game against Heartland FC of Owerri in an empty stadium on Sunday. (NAN)
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:10:21 +0000
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