Di match wey everibodi bin dey expect for di Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) – between Rangers FC of Enugu and Enyimba FC of Aba – end for katakata on Sunday.
Video of di match show say kasala burst afta referee blow penalty for Rangers for di dying minutes of di match, and some Enyimba players start to protest violently and even push di referee.
Di match bin dey 0-0 dat time.
Dis come cause katakata as fans troop into di Enugu stadium, come force di referee to run enta inside and dem abandon di game.
Afta 35 matches played, Rangers and Enyimba dey first and second positions wit 61 points and 59 points respectively for di NPFL table.
Dis mean to say dem get just 3 matches to go to di end of di season. Di Sunday game between di Flying Antelopes and di Peoples Elephant na potential title decider- but e no end well.
Di NPFL neva release any official statement about di incident and efforts by BBC Pidgin to contact di League management neva yield results.
Good advert for di NPFL no end well
Di oriental derby na usually big match becos Enyimba and Rangers na two of di most successful clubs for Nigeria, and both of dem dey di South East Region of di kontri.
Sunday game dey more important sake of wetin dey at stake, and di turnout of fans dey very impressive.
Pictures of di full Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium for Enugu bin go viral on di social media as pipo dey commend how dis go signify say Nigeria league don dey beta and fans don dey confident to dey go watch matches.
Even former Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, post on X to ‘brag’ about how di reforms wey im introduce to di league wen e be minister, don dey bear fruit.
Tori wey spread be say dem sell ova 20,000 tickets to fans for di match, and di least ticket na N500.
But all of dat end for disappointment.
Fines, bans, stadium closure… punishment for crowd violence
Crowd violence no dey as bad now for Nigeria football as e bin dey bifor bifor.
Dis na due to several measures wey football handlers for Nigeria bin introduce to stop di ugly occurrences.
Di punishment fit be in form of fines to di particular player wey start di katakata, a ban of three months to one year, making di team play behind closed doors witout dia fans, and sometimes prosecution in di case of assault on a match official.
E dey expected say di NPFL go sama fines and point deductions against di team wey dem find guilty of starting trouble at di Enugu Stadium on Sunday.
Already dis year, dem bin don comot two points from Enyimba afta dia match against Doma United bin dey disrupted for di 88th minute.
Wahala start afta Enyimba bin tink say dem don score goal wen di match bin dey 0-0, but di linesman flag am offside and di referee cancel di goal.
In 2019 di NPFL bi santion El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri afta dia fans skata dia match wit Go-Round FC wey bin dey 2-2.
Na army pipo come get di situation unda control as dem begin shoot for air to stop di angry fans.
For dia punishment, El-Kanemi bin pay N3 million fine to di NPFL, anoda N250,000 to di referee Rilwan Ayeni who dia fans bin beat up, and dem play out di rest of di 2018/2019 season under closed doors.
Also in 2019, di NPFL fine Kano Pillars N8 million for pitch invasion by dia supporters and assault of match officials for dia match against Enugu Rangers.
Dem also ban Pillars kaptin, Rabiu Ali for 12 matches, bicos na im first confront di referee bifor di fans follow, and dem comot three points from Kano Pillars also.
Most recently, in 2023, di match between Bayelsa United and Doma FC bin also end for crowd violence.
As a result, di NPFL fine United N1.5 million, order dem to pay N250,000 to assistant referee Ojeleye Ebenezer for assault, and order for di arrest and prosecution of one Joseph Zidougha (a.k.a One Man Riot) who bin dey responsible for assaulting di match official.
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