All over the world, football is one beautiful language that has been used to unite people from different backgrounds since it’s advent in 1939, even if they’re sworn enemies, but then football has to be able to break that barrier anytime it takes center stage.
However, despite the beauty of the game in Nigeria, crowd violence has always placed a huge dent on the game in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). It is no secret that in the Nigeria League, crowd violence is one thing that is very synonymous with the league back in the days, and it has always affected the development of the league.
In 2014, a match between Ranchers Bees and Kwara United were marred with violence when center referee Charles Ozigbo awarded a penalty to the away team, and it’s led to pitch encroachment by the home fans, and the referee was beaten mercilessly.
In fact, the unpalatable event mentioned above wasn’t the only gory event that did go down in the NPFL, some years back one of the best and most experienced NPFL coach Kadiri Ikhana, led Enyimba to a league match in Kaduna, and he returned back with a limping leg due to violence.
Referee Paul Umuagu, and his assistants, Auwalu Barau and Abdulwaheed Dauda, were beating black and blue when Enyimba fans pounced on the match official in a match against Heartland FC of Owerri. Barau was hit with sharp objects and never fully recovered from the injuries and trauma until he was pronounced dead in December 2011.
READ ALSO: Solving NPFL Niggling Issues, Beyond LMC Alone
Likewise in 2019, the league was barely three weeks old, when another gory violence erupted in the match between Remo Stars and Bendel Insurance at the Gateway Stadium, in Sagamu.
Even before the Sagamu show of shame, we had witnessed a violent clash on the opening day of the league season in a match that involved Plateau United and Ifeanyi Ubah, and because of the barbaric act Plateau United were banished, and also fine 5millon naira.
Meanwhile, we also can’t forget the ugly incident between Pillars and Rangers which also ended violently when the fans encroached the pitch at Agege, in a match that ended in a draw.
Outside the Muhammad Dikko stadium katsina after the league match between katsina United vs Kano pillars 😓😨😧 @LMCNPFL pic.twitter.com/ddbQLlHYqi
— Garkuwa_photography (@aminugarkuwa04) January 15, 2020
Matchday 15, January 16, 2020, was another sad day NPFL fans will not forget in such a hurry, as we witnessed yet another violent act in the league, a match that involved Kastina United and Pillars as two lives were feared dead, but since the incident happened both parties have been claiming innocent.
However, with the gory violent still very fresh in our memories, more so with the return leg of the match still to come sometime this year, which we definitely don’t know what would transpire between the rival fans, the question we should ask is when would this deadly disease called violence ends in our league?
Hooliganism has been regular sport among NPFL home fans as of late, but it is actually a dismal story that LMC didn’t see this tormenting violence as a significant issue.
READ ALSO: NPFL Suffering In The Hands Of Selfish, Non-Challant League Leaders
Notwithstanding, despite everything, it endures, albeit in new dimensions. Today, rather than the pretty much-unconstrained upsurges of fans violence of the past, it is a well-known fact that in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), a considerable lot of the clubs intentionally lose on away grounds, match officials giving the home teams un-deserve penalty since they want to avoid a strategic distance from the madness of the home fans.
To pick three solid points at away grounds and still traveled back safe is somewhat impossible unless the away side dominates the host team in such a way the home fans would see no justification for tumult.
The only body in line to provide answers to that question is definitely the League Management Company (LMC), perhaps they would proffer a solution to all these football hooliganism that has failed to go, so we could enjoy the beautiful game without constant fear of violence, and more so for the league to have good integrity.
Football is what should be enjoy by the fans, not what should kill them, if the people at the helms of affairs and the fans who were the major protagonist could get it right, maybe by picking positive note from other African league, such as the ‘Botola League’ in Morocco, the ‘PSL’ in South Africa, then we could boast of a standard league in Nigeria until then violence will continue casting a dark shadow over the league’s development.
At a point, the Nigerian League was appraised as one of the best in Africa, but the high cases of hooliganism, assaulting match officials and violence has given the league a resounding blow even world boxing champions would parry to avoid serious knock-down.
