NPFL: League Management Company banished Kano Pillars to Katsina, slammed N2.5 Million for disobedience

Sequel to the crowd disturbances and harassment of match referees in one of the fixtures of MatchDay16 of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) 2021/2022 season, Kano Pillars FC has been fined N2.5million and begin a new chapter in the ancient state of Kastina after getting disbandment from League Management Company, BSNSports.com.ng reports. LMC issued sanctions and disclosed that the four-time NPFL champions breached the Rules of B13.52, B13.18, B8.21 and C1.1 Frameworks and Rules of the NPFL. Pillars were fined for failure to provide adequate security and ensure restriction of access to unauthorized persons to restricted areas, which resulted in the harassment and intimidation of Match Officials on the field of play between Pillars vs Plateau United at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna. The club were also found in breach of Rule B8.21 of the Frameworks and Rules of the NPFL for failure to provide adequate security for match officials after the match, which resulted in the harassment of the Match Officials, after the match and later at their hotel. They were further found in breach of Rule C1.1 of the Framework and Rule for failure to adequately enforce the proactive closed-door order restricting the entry of fans to the match venue. “In accordance with Rule C26, Pillars is required, within 48 hours of the date of the notice, to either submit to the summary jurisdiction and the sanctions or elect to be dealt with by a disciplinary panel. The League body also expressed woeful performance of the Match Commissioner, Haruna Garba of Gombe State Football Council in the MatchDay 16 fixture between Kano Pillars and Rivers United. Consequently, it requested the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF and the Referees Appointment Committee to review Mr Garba’s performance following his failure to ensure smooth organisation of the match.