As excitement and anxiety continues to fill the air in the Nationwide League One (NLO) regarding teams likely to gain promotion and the ones on the verge of being drowned in the relegation waters this season, Shola Ogunnowo, the Chief Operating Officer of the Nationwide League One has charged clubs to channel pressure to their players and not to the referees in the league.
According to Ogunnowo , clubs must do the needful to motivate their players to win games , as he noted that it is anti- football for any club to think that the major way to win games is to influence the referees to favour them during the course of 90 minutes on the field of play, stressing further that the League body is impressed with the integrity exhibited by the Nigerian referees in their official assignment in the Nationwide League games.
“No club should put pressure on the referees , match officials or even the league secretariat in a way to gain promotion or escape relegation. The chairman of the league board has directed that all the clubs should rather channel the pressure to their players to win matches for them and not putting pressure on the referees to assist them to win matches.” Ogunnowo said.
He also said that the secretariat of the league has been receiving reports of all sorts from clubs officials regarding some matches and he warned that the league body will soon unleash heavy sanctions on any club that falls short of expectations concerning the rules and regulations of the game.
“We have been receiving reports of actions or inactions from some clubs officials regarding the proceedings of some games and the board will soon answer these clubs with heavy fine if they are found to have contravened the laws governing the game” he concluded.
