KANO Pillars have vowed to appeal the N1 million fine slammed on them by the Management of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) for failing to control their fans.
In an exclusive chat with The ICIR on Tuesday, October 24, the media officer, Kano Pillars, Lurwanu Idris Malikawa admitted the fans encroached into the play area but they did so out of excitement and the encroachment was brief and caused no harm.
Malikawa pleaded for leniency from the management team.
“This is just the beginning of the season. We will plead to the league management to be lenient on us. It was the excitement of the goal that made fans come into the field. Nobody was maltreated,” he said.
A memo signed by the NPFL’s Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, on Monday, October 23, said the failure led to the fans’ encroachment into the field of play during the MatchDay four fixture against Rivers United.
The ICIR reports that at the 20,000 capacity General Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano State, the club’s supporters were thrown into wild jubilation after their ‘legendary’ captain Rabiu Ali scored in an additional minute to the end of the full time.
In an excitement of the long-awaited goal, the fans were seen jumping the barricade into the field of play to celebrate the goal which delayed the flow of the match.
After reviewing the report from the match officials, the NPFL charged the club with a breach of Rule B13.18 which states that “No one shall encroach onto the field of play or throw object towards onto the field of play or towards any match official, players or other person at any time in the course of match.”
The club was consequently ordered to pay the fine of N1m within 14 days and warned that failure to comply within the stipulated time would be considered a continuous breach of the NPFL Framework and Rules.
In another development, the NPFL’s management has warned the Heartland of Owerri to stop the restive acts of their supporters.
The club was also advised to re-orientate its supporters on fair play.
“It has come to our attention that some irate supporters of your club held players and officials hostage after the match, making it difficult for them to exit the stadium premises until a detachment of security operatives arrived as reinforcement.
“Such behavior is unacceptable and tarnished the reputation of both Heartland and the NPFL ”, read the memo signed by Davidson Owumi, the Chief Operating Officer.