Malumfashi FC gets clearance from Match Commissioner over alleged assault on officials

Posted : 11 January 2024

Following the summary jurisdiction released by the Nigeria National League (NNL) board after the Match Day 7 game between Malumfashi FC and Sokoto United at the Abubakar Labo stadium in Malumfashi, Katsina State, the match commissioner, Ibrahim Garuba from Jigawa State, has stated clearly that he was not aware of any attack or breakdown of law and order by the players or officials of Sokoto United during and after the game.

The Jigawa State-born match commissioner stated that he has yet to submit the full comprehensive match report to the NNL board.

"I am currently writing the comprehensive report of the match because after the game was abandoned, nothing happened."

According to Mallam Ibrahim Garuba, there were disagreements caused by the opposing team, Sokoto United, due to time-wasting tactics, against which the center referee constantly warned.

"After observing the normal protocol, the match kicked off exactly at 4 P.M, and after exactly two minutes of play, jersey number 29 of the away team, Sokoto United, scored a goal.

"On the 28th minute of play, the center referee gave a verbal warning to the away team's goalkeeper for delay tactics."

Mallam Garuba attributed the crisis between the two teams to time-wasting by the Sokoto United team, which irritated the fans.

"There was a collision between a Malumfashi FC player and a Sokoto United player around the 35th minute of play. The referee instructed the Sokoto United player to be taken off the field after treatment, but this didn't go down well with the fans because the treatment continued after the referee's instruction.

"After the substitution of the injured Sokoto United player, the goalkeeper started another time-wasting tactic by faking another injury, and all these contributed to the start of the fracas."

Mallam Garuba blamed Sokoto United team manager Umar Mohammed for taunting and verbally harassing Malumfashi FC supporters outside the arena, which almost aggravated the whole issue.

"I saw Sokoto United team manager verbally assaulting the home team supporters, and I instructed the 4th referee official to give him a stern warning because his continuous confrontation with the home fans has already started causing trouble for us and for the game."

He stated that there was adequate security before the match was abandoned, and no officials were attacked by the fans of both teams.

Mallam Garuba stressed that the match was tense because the officials of Malumfashi FC felt they were being cheated, accusing the match officials of deliberately wanting to send the team out of the NNL league.

"The police protected us after the break when the fans and officials of Malumfashi started complaining.

"The police protected us by throwing tear gas to disperse the surging crowd at the entrance of the dressing room."

He opined that the Sokoto United team abandoned the game due to what they termed as insecurity, even when the match officials were ready to restart the second half of the match.

"We were inside the field of play and ready to start the second half when the Sokoto United team declined to show up for the second half.

"The referee gave enough time for the match to restart, and the match officials pleaded with both sides to continue the game, but the Sokoto United team insisted they would not continue the match. So, the referee ended the game, and everybody walked back to the dressing room without any issues."

He concluded that nobody was beaten up or assaulted after the game was abandoned, and until the moment the match officials left the stadium.

"After the game, we went back to the dressing room and walked away with security escorting match officials, while the Sokoto United team was still inside the stadium without showing any incident of being harassed or molested."

Mallam Garuba hinted that he knew about the attack on the Sokoto United team the next day when he saw the post on social media.

He said that the match referees disappeared the next morning without informing him of their departure.

"Someone from NNL called me on my way to Jigawa state to know what happened. This was after my conversations with the referees a day after the game."

He called on the NNL board to properly investigate the incident that happened after the match to ensure that such an episode doesn't repeat itself again.

Malumfashi FC gets clearance from Match Commissioner over alleged assault on officials

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