Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Katsina United lived up to their reputation as the bad hosts of the current league season when they refused players of Rangers International entry into the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina on Tuesday.
United will face Rangers on Wednesday in a rescheduled Match Day 2 encounter billed for the stadium also known as Karkanda Stadium but the visiting team were prevented from using the stadium for their mandatory official training session ahead of the game.
Tuesday was not the first time Katsina United had prevented their opponents from accessing the match venue for their mandatory training exercise this season. Bendel Insurance FC, Niger Tornadoes and MFM FC have all suffered this fate this season with the latter eventually let in after directive from the league’s Chief Operating Officer.
More recently, Nigeria’s Champions League campaigners Lobi Stars were locked out last Saturday and had to make do with an improvised sandy training ground to prepare themselves. Lobi Stars lost the game 0-2 on Sunday. Just like Lobi, Rangers have also opted for a sandy ground to train ahead of Wednesday’s fixture scheduled to start at 4pm Nigerian time.
Officials of the reigning AITEO Cup champions Rangers informed www.aclsports.com they will write officially to the League Management Company (LMC) about the matter. Both teams will meet again in Enugu on Sunday in the corresponding fixture of Wednesday’s rescheduled encounter.
Katsina United and Rangers are neck-to-neck on the abridged league’s Group B table with seventeen points apiece but Rangers are ahead in third position due to a healthy goals difference.
