El Kanemi Warriors Fined For Failing To Provide Adequate Security

The Nigeria Professional Football League’s Interim Management Committee fined El Kanemi Warriors N750,000 on Wednesday.

The IMC fined El Kanemi Warriors for failing to offer sufficient and dependable security for all players in their encounter against league-leaders Bendel Insurance in Maiduguri on matchday five last week.

El-Kanemi were also instructed to play their final home games of the first half of the season in front of a small audience, according to a statement released by the IMC and signed by Harry Iwuala on Wednesday.

“The IMC after a review of findings of the official reports of the match-day five fixture between El-Kanemi Warriors and Bendel Insurance, found the host team to have breached Rule B13.52 for failure to provide adequate and effective security for all persons involved in the match and which led to the destruction of the camera tripod of the away team, and disagreements before the resumption of the second half”, the statement read.

“El-Kanemi was thus fined N500,000 for failure to provide adequate and effective security, N250,000 being compensatory payment to Bendel Insurance coach, Monday Odigie, and an order to replace the damaged camera tripod of Bendel Insurance.”

In other developments, Bayelsa United coach Deprieye Tebowei received a final warning for appropriate behavior after apologizing for his careless public comment on the NPFL.

After their 3-0 loss to Lobi Stars in Makurdi, Tebowei claimed the match referee employed unfair refereeing.

The teams Lobi Stars, Enyimba, and Abia Warriors also requested schedule alterations, but the IMC denied them. The body stressed the necessity of maintaining the fixtures’ integrity and preventing further fixture congestion.

Both Lobi Stars and Abia Warriors requested a time modification for their respective matchups on matchday seven against Wikki Tourists and Dakkada. Enyimba asked for the date of their match against Shooting Stars on matchday eight to be changed.

Therefore, it was ordered that Abia Warriors host Wikki Tourists at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba on the same day and that Lobi makes necessary preparations to play their encounter on matchday seven on the scheduled date of February 11.

Before the conclusion of the first half of the season, Shooting Stars and Abia Warriors were given a three-week deadline to upgrade the state of their stadiums’ playing surfaces.

For the remainder of the first half of the season, Abia Warriors have been given a provisional permit to use the Umuahia Township Stadium. The area would then be assessed to determine whether it satisfied the criteria for Club Licensing Infrastructure.

Nasarawa United also received permission to play its remaining season matches at the New Jos Township Stadium.

Thus, Nasarawa’s encounter against Kwara United on matchday seven will take place this weekend in Jos.