NPFL fines Katsina, Gombe United, Tornadoes for dress code violation, rule breaches

The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has fined Katsina United, Gombe United and Niger Tornadoes for flouting its code during their recent games.

The sanctions are coming just a few days after the NPFL issued a practice directive to clubs on dress codes for their technical crew and players.
A Katsina United player wore a jersey that was inappropriately numbered during their matchday 11 fixture against Sporting Lagos and the NPFL said it 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.

Commenting on the breaches and the sanctions, Chief Operating Officer of the NPFL, Davidson Owumi, noted that the regulatory role of the body is to identify, investigate acts that may 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,” Owumi said.

He 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 and which was shared with match commissioners and referees.

Katsina United, Gombe United and Niger Tornadoes are three clubs that 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 player, Ibrahim Yahay with jersey No. 27.

The club, in a second charge 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 first assistant referee.

The NPFL fined Katsina United N1 million for 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.

The NPFL also fined Gombe United N7 million as punishment for their fans’ unruly behaviour during their MatchDay 11 fixture against Kano Pillars. Their stadium was also closed to fans for one match for breaches ranging from disruption of match, 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 another case, the NPFL fined Niger Tornadoes N3.25 million for breach of Rule B8.21, C9 and C1.1 during their game against Akwa United on matchday 10. The fine includes compensatory payment to the centre referee, Ahmad Rabiu, who incurred losses arising from fans’ misbehaviour.

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) and a third fine of N1 million for misconduct, as well as a N250,000 compensatory payment to Rabiu from Kano State Referees Council for losses resulting from the harassment.

The NPFL also shut the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, home ground of Niger Tornadoes, to fans for the next three home fixtures of the club. According to the NPFL, the affected “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.”