Heartland FC management stands sacked, Ozuruigbo tells Etuemena

The Supervising official of the Heartland Football Club, Ugonna Ozuruigbo, who is also the Deputy Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, yesterday insisted that the club is headed administratively by its Chief Operating Officer, Oscar Keke.

Ozuruigbo also maintained his stance that the club’s former management team led Heartland to relegation through ‘sabotage and carelessness.’He also announced that a three-man technical committee has been set up to reposition the club. Members of the committee are a Special Adviser to the Governor of Imo State on Political Matters, Prof. Nnamdi Obiaeri, a former Commissioner for Youth and Sports, who is now a Special Adviser to the Governor, Kenneth Emelu and Mr. Emeka Iwuagwu.

Briefing journalists on Monday, Ozuruigbo alleged that the state government injected more than N75 million into the club between July and October, which shows that funding was not the club’s problem.

He claimed that Governor Okorocha gave him the mandate to supervise the club.Etuemena issued a statement last weekend denying being responsible for the relegation of the club to the lower league, stating that he could only be sacked by the governor, who appointed him in the first place and not Ozuruigbo, a lawmaker.

But Ozuruigbo insisted that, “I have been asked to reorganise and reposition this club. Am I going to still seat with this people? This management is hereby dissolved.

“For now, the governor has asked Oskar Keke to stand as the Chief Operating Officer. He can be doing the administrative work of the club… my own is to supervise what is going on to make sure everything is in order… to make sure that the club is organized or repositioned.”
He vowed to do his best to bring the club back to the premier league, saying that the club’s home loss to Ikorodu United contributed to its relegation.