THE Disciplinary Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has adopted and upheld the decision contained in the Summary Jurisdiction Notice of the League Management Committee on the match between the Rangers FC of Enugu and FC IfeanyiUbah.
Consequently Rangers have been fined the sum of N3,750 million for various breaches against the Enugu side in the Week one match of the 2016/17 NPFL season played in Enugu on January 15. The committee took the position at its meeting held on Thursday in Abuja.
Rangers were fined the sum of N750,000 for their failure to ensure restriction of access by unauthorised persons from all resticted areas during the match.
For the encroachment and throwing of objects towards the field of play “by the fans and supporters of Rangers FC” at the end of the match, the committee fined the club the sum of N1,000,000.
And for “conduct capable of bringing the League to disrepute, i.e. attempted assault at hauling of missiles at the match officials”, the club were fined an additional N500,000. Two officials – the match commissioner and a mobile police officer – were reported injured during the match. As compensation, Rangers were asked to pay each of them the sum of N250,000.
The Enugu side were further fined the sum of N1,000,000, “being cost for the committee’s sitting in line with Rule E1 which states that ‘“where an appeal or election for hearing pursuant to a notice in form 16 fails or is found to have been frivolous, such party may be liable to such additional sanction as deem fit in the circumstances”’.
Apart from the fines, the committee also warned Rangers to ensure that there are no “more incidents of fans throwing missiles either on the field of play or against match officials, failure for which the NFF Disciplinary Committee shall impose further sanctions that is not limited to ordering for a closed door home matches to be played” by the club.
The committee said it considered the available facts in the form of the written submission from the two clubs, the match commissioner and the referee’s reports to arrive at its decisions.
Meanwhile, the General Manager of the club, Christian Chukwu expects a tough encounter when his charges face Algerian JS Saoura in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League first leg tie on February 10.
Chukwu, a former captain of the club, said he does not expect the game in Algiers to be a walk in the park but believes the Nigerian champions can win in Algeria.
“It will be a very difficult match but we will try as much as possible to change the orientation of the team.
“It is important for the boys to come out and give their best fully. There is nothing wrong if we win or get a draw there (in Algeria).
“I think we can do it and that is what we will go for,” he told supersport.com.
Chukwu then took the time to discuss the club’s slow start to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season, explaining that results will turn around for the better in the coming days.
“It has been a difficult start for us because most of the fans would have expected us to start better.
“We have dropped some points at home but we believe the bad times are now a thing of the past. I am sure that from this weekend when we play against FC IfeanyiUbah in Nnewi, results will improve,” he said.
Rangers have claimed five out of a possible 15 points this season and currently sit in 12th place on the 20-team NPFL log.
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