LMC gives FC Ifeanyiubah eight-point suspended sanction

Club accepts punishment, apologises for misdemeanour

The League Management Company (LMC) yesterday pronounced sanctions on FC Ifeanyiubah aimed at deterring further acts that would lead to matches being called off. This followed the incident in Kano, where the club abandoned their Week One match against Kano Pillars on Saturday.

According to a statement by the LMC, the sanction emphasised more on deterrence than on financial penalties, as the club stands to lose a total of eight points in addition to the forfeiture of three points and three goals from the match against Pillars.

The league body charged FC Ifeanyiubah for breaching the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Rules and Framework and consequently handed a suspended sentence of deduction of a total of eight points should the breach occur again. “This is in addition of forfeiture of the three points and three goals from the match and fines totaling N9, 150, 000,” the body said.

It also sanctioned the club’s Team Manager, Jonathan Igwe and the Coach, Yaw Preko, for their roles in the match, just as it recommended that the match referee, Funsho Ajayi, be removed from the list of officials for subsequent games in the 2016/2017 season.

Igwe was fined N500, 000, suspended from all NPFL match venues for the rest of the season pending the determination of his case by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ethics Committee, while Coach Preko was reprimanded for failing and or neglecting to take all reasonable steps to ensure that players and other employees under his control accept and observe the authority and decisions of match officials and promote the highest standards on the field of play.

“Referee, Funso Ajayi from Oyo State was referred to the NFF for failing to meet up with the high standard expected in the Nigeria Professional Football League and exhibiting unsatisfactory game management,” it added.

Meanwhile, FC Ifeanyiubah yesterday accepted the punishment, while promising to ensure that such incidents did not happen again during their matches.