| NPL
vow to get at root of Zamfara/Kaduna scandal
...Set to constitute panel to unravel
mystery behind 9–0 scoreline
By JOHN
SALAU
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
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•Action
between Warri Wolves and Bayelsa United
in the just concluded season
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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The Executive Secretary of Nigeria Premier League (NPL),
Alhassan Yakmut, has said that the scandal, which rocked the
end of last season in Gusau would not be swept under the carpet.
He explained that the board would in the coming days, constitute
a panel, which would look into the 9–0 scoreline between
Zamfara United and Kaduna United on the last day of the season,
which saw the Gusau-based side survive relegation.
He further said that though no game had a limited number of
goals that must be scored in it, the board were sceptical
that the team in question scored an average of one goal per
match throughout the season only to brace the trail on the
last day.
"We cannot allow this scandal to be swept under the carpet
because of the consequences it will bring to our league in
the future.
"The world is reading all the reports that have been
published concerning this match and FIFA would want to see
how we handle it. It is in the light of this that we have
decided to investigate the remote and immediate causes that
lead to that scandalous scoreline, after which we shall dish
out punishment to whoever is guilty.
"I want to state that we are not enemies of good football
that produces high number of goals, but we are concerned about
the manner those goals were scored. After all, FIFA usually
encourage high goalscoring in all their competitions,"
the scribe said.
It would be recalled that Zamfara United Football Club of
Gusau escaped relegation on the last day of the season after
scoring nine unreplied goals against Kaduna United in questionable
circumstances.
Most followers of the league cried blue murder and alleged
match fixing between the two teams, which they have denied.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had since promised to
look into the complaint that was tabled by Akwa United, who
were sacrificed by the scoreline into relegation.
However, it will do our league a lot of good if the perpetrators
of that crime against sports development are brought to book
to serve as a deterrent to others, who are harbouring the
same notion to fix matches to survive relegation. After all,
the Italian League board punished their league teams that
got involved in match fixing few seasons back. After making
them to pay some fines, they went further to relegate some
of the teams, while others had points deducted from them.
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