NPFL: Yet another embarrassment in Kano

RECENTLY, as they are wont to do, irate fans of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) side, Kano Pillars Football Club, chose to act like common criminals. They attacked officials during the team’s match against Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) in the Nigerian top flight. Their grouse was that the Oluyole Warriors had scored a late equaliser in the match played at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano. While Kano Pillars’ Mustapha Jibrin had given the home team an early lead in the ninth minute, respite came the way of the visitors as Adams Mustapha scored during added time. As the referee blew the final whistle, many of the home fans invaded the pitch and launched deadly assaults on the match officials. They threw punches at the officials and hurled anything they could find at them, while simultaneously beating up and injuring the Shooting Stars players and members of their technical crew. Players like Ismail Ayodele and Adams Agba’a suffered head injuries. It was absolute chaos as the victims ran for dear life amid the barrage of blows, and the situation would have been much worse if security operatives had not dispersed the rampaging thugs with teargas.

Naturally, Ahmed Musa, the General Manager of Kano Pillars, was both shocked and embarrassed  by the incident. In a statement issued shortly after the match, Musa, ex-captain of Nigeria’s senior national side, the Super Eagles, extended his “deepest and most sincere apologies for the unfortunate, painful, and disgraceful incident that occurred during our game against Shooting Stars Sports Club.” In his view, “what transpired against Shooting Stars is heartbreaking, shameful, and completely unacceptable.” According to him, the incident did not represent the true values, identity, or the proud history of Kano Pillars. He added: “I tender an unreserved apology to the players, coaches, officials, and supporters of Shooting Stars Sports Club, to the match referees and league officials who were caught in this terrible situation, to the Nigeria Premier Football League board and its partners at GTI, to the league organisers, and to every football fan across Nigeria and beyond who watched these scenes with anger, shock, and disappointment. I know how painful it must have been to witness something so damaging to our game, and I am deeply, deeply sorry.” He then promised that Kano Pillars FC would work closely with the relevant authorities to identify those responsible for this shameful act, and they will face the full consequences of their actions.”

Reacting to the incident, the management of the NPFL announced a deduction of three points and three goals from Kano Pillars’ total for the assault on match officials. It also imposed a fine of N9.5 million for various offences, including failing to provide adequate security, allowing the throwing of dangerous objects onto the pitch, and not controlling supporters, and as compensation to Shooting Stars’ players and officials, and the assaulted match officials. The NPFL further ordered the closure of the Sani Abacha Stadium for all Kano Pillars’ home matches indefinitely. It said:  “The club have further been directed to produce the perpetrators of the ugly incident and show proof of prosecution as well as put in place an effective matchday security arrangement which must be submitted to NPFL within seven days.”

We support the sanctions by NPFL: the kind of incident that took place in Kano had previously taken place on many occasions, with Kano Pillars banished from the Sani Abacha Stadium, then unbanned. Often, for players of the visiting team, their officials and supporters, being in Kano is not a tea party. As a matter of fact, visiting teams often lose in Kano because of the fear already imposed on them through the unfriendly environment. That is not to say that Kano Pillars is not formidable enough to win at home. In fact, it has on many occasions won away games, which is a testimony to its brilliance as a team. But most times, its fans don’t exhibit the spirit of sportsmanship, and it is time they shelved that terrible attitude. They have to accept the fact that in football, you win some and lose some. Beating up visiting teams’ players because they scored a goal is terrible, but it keeps happening and it is part of the reasons many Nigerians don’t bother to watch the NPFL matches. To them, the matches are boring because the results are predictable. As a matter of fact, there seems to have been an unwritten rule, over the years, that a visiting team cannot defeat Kano Pillars in Kano. This is, to say the least, a tragedy.

To be sure, crowd violence in Nigerian football is not limited to Kano Pillars and, to be fair, there is no evidence that the team or its management approves of the unholy tactics of the supporters. As a team, Kano Pillars is actually one of Nigeria’s biggest football teams. What the team has consistently failed to do, working with the authorities, is protect visiting teams and their crew from harm. We deplore the violence in Kano and urge that crowd control mechanisms should be revamped not just in the ancient city but across the country. The spectacle of irate fans descending on players who have been running around the pitch for 90 minutes or more, and who could easily suffer cardiac arrest on such occasions, is too ugly to even think about. This horrible spectacle has to stop. It sends bad signals about Nigerian football to the outside world. This is extremely bad for the image of Nigerian football.

Teams must uphold code of conduct for their supporters. Leagues in Europe used to have the same kind of problem Nigeria is currently battling with, but they took concrete steps to address it. They redesigned their stadiums, installed CCTV cameras, segregated fans and imposed a ban on troublemakers. They also set up mechanisms for prosecuting offenders. Nigeria needs to up its game and make the stadium experience pleasant. Until hooliganism within and outside the football stadium is decisively addressed, the fortunes of Nigerian football will continue to nosedive. No two ways about it.