The board of the Nigeria National League, NNL has handed a fine of 1 million naira to Jigawa Golden Stars for failure to provide adequate security in their Match-Day 13 game against Sporting Supreme in Dutse.
Recall that the centre referee in that match, Zaharadeen Nasiru of Katsina State and one of his assistants, Usman Auwalu from Borno State were expelled from further handling matches in the country’s domestic leagues because of their poor officiating in the encounter which brought the game into disrepute.
In a video that went viral, the centre referee allowed a goal scored with the hands and also went ahead to award a questionable penalty which allowed Jigawa Golden Stars win the game 2-1.
According to a statement by the eague board, the decision to penalize the club was to bring sanity to the second tier league.
The board said the investigation it carried out revealed that inadequate security contributed to the referees’ unprofessional conduct in the game.
It further said the decision to place a fine of 1 million naira on Jigawa Golden Stars is to ensure that the sanity the league enjoys is not rubbished or compromised as well as serve as a lesson to other teams that are planning to bring the game to disrepute.