The Organising and Disciplinary (O&D) Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) at the weekend handed a respite to Enyimba in the aftermath of the ugly scenes that overshadowed the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Match Day 36 Oriental derby involving the two South Eastern clubs at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.
The match was stalemated five minutes into added time when Enyimba felt hard done by the match official who pointed to the spot after a Rangers attacker went to the ground inside the vital area following a ‘tug’ on him from behind by an Enyimba defender.
Enyimba had at the time claimed the attacker was in an offside position. With spectators surging unto the pitch, the match came to an abrupt end with the domestic league organisers, NPFL, handing out a hefty N10m cumulative fine on the nine-time Nigeria League Champions and two-time CAF Champions League winners.
Enyimba were also ducked of three goals and three points accruable from the match with the Coal City Flying Antelopes, Rangers, who were eventually crowned 2023/2024 Nigeria Champions in Jos on the final day of the 2023/2024 season as beneficiaries of the three goals and three points from the disputed ‘Oriental derby’ match.
But the Disciplinary Committee of the NFF headed by Barrister J.B.C Obikwelu, a retired referee, on Friday, 21 June, 2023, sat and took a holistic review of the matter, coming up with a decision to reduce the N10m fine on Enyimba to N4m.
The Committee found out that, the match venue was overcrowded, frowning at a situation where a 32,000 capacity Stadium was said to have admitted 70,000 spectators.
The Disciplinary Committee disagreed with the Summary Jurisdiction of the NPFL in Paragraph two (2) of the Summary Jurisdiction Notice form 16 that the live broadcast transmission was disrupted by Enyimba FC for want of evidence. It (O&D), therefore, struck out N5m fine imposed on The People’s Elephant.
The O&D also quashed the N1m fine imposed on Enyimba on account of the alleged supporters of the club throwing objects onto the pitch during the disputed game.
The Disciplinary Committee however, upheld the Summary Jurisdiction decision to award the game’s three points and three goals to the new Nigeria Champions, Rangers, who have now won the title eight (8) times, one shy of Enyimba’s nine (9).
