Nigeria Professional Football League side Sunshine Stars have been slammed a three-point deduction following a repeated case of violence at its home ground in Akure.
Match officials have consistently been molested in Akure in each of the past three seasons and the league organisers have punished the club with varying degrees of punishment on every occasion.
However, the League Management Company has meted out a stiffer punishment to the Owena Waves after pictures of an attack on match officials went viral after their home game against Kano Pillars last Sunday.
“These repeated breaches constitute aggravated circumstances which are considered with a view towards imposing more severe sanctions,” stated the LMC’s Chief Operating Officer, Salihu Abubakar in a statement made available to www.aclsports.com
“It is noted that despite the imposition of a range of corrective sanctions including fines, ‘closed door’ orders and stadium bans, Sunshine Stars has failed to curb these acts of disturbances and contempt for match officials which are capable of bringing the league to disrepute,” the statement added.
In addition to the three-point deduction, Sunshine Stars were also fined one million nairas apart from the five hundred thousand nairas (#500,000) they will pay for the treatment of the injured match officials.
Meanwhile, the LMC has recommended that Match Officials from the game (Sunshine Stars vs Kano Pillars) be withdrawn from further consideration for future NPFL matches for conducts capable of bringing the league to disrepute.
The center referee; Damien Akure and his assistants Apine Emmanuel and Lewis Owolana were said to have submitted their Official Match Reports late while failing to adequately capture the unruly incidents.
Sunshine Stars are not on league duties this weekend as their opponents MFM FC prepare for their second leg CAF Champions League preliminary stage game against Malian side Real Bamako next weekend.
Duke Udi’s men will now drop to seventeenth on the league log (the last relegation spot) after their three-point deduction with nine points from eight matches.
