Hooliganism must be curbed in NPFL —Fuludu

Akwa United's Musa Newman (right) struggling for ball possession.

A former head coach of Warri Wolves FC, Edema Fuludu on Tuesday urged the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) to curb the regular occurrence of hooliganism during league matches.

He said that NPFL must also address the issue of unpaid salaries, which had continued to affect the morale of players in the various clubs.

Fuludu, who was a member of the Super Eagles squad that won the Tunisia 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), added that in spite of the problems; the league was getting better.

“Well for the NPFL, I think that they did credibly well except for the fact that the issues of officiating started to crop up, issues of hooliganism started to crop up.

“These ones we must need to be bold, if our league must become better, they must also put into the consciousness of the organisers of this league.

“That a lot of the actors in the game, the players, are being treated shabbily in terms of their welfare and so you cannot get the best out of the system.

“They are the primary actors, they must begin to take their situations into serious consideration, because they are under pressure to sign certain contracts because there is a glut of players.

“So many players too few clubs, however, overall the NPFL has grown, it’s one of the strongest leagues in Africa, but we must curb that hooliganism.”