BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The National Chairman of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC), Rev. Amb. Samuel Ikpea on Monday condemned the actions of angry fans of Shooting Stars of Ibadan who held Ikorodu City players to hostage on Sunday.
Ikpea who spoke from his base in Lagos described the incident as unsportsmanlike and charged fans to be more tolerating when result of matches do not go their way.
“It’s so sad” Ikpea started. “Holding players of Ikorodu City to hostage and also vandalizing their bus was not necessary”.
“I do not expect them, to do that because the result did not go their way”. “It is not every match you win, in some matches you win while others you lose, that is football for you and that’s the spirit”.
“Whenever we (NFSC) join our national teams we see them lose matches or even get unnecessary draw, we do not take actions by attacking visiting fans” “The recent one was in Uyo when Zimbabwe held the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw, did we take negative actions?”.
Report from sources confirmed that the Police had a hard time trying to prevent the angry fans from gaining access to dressing room where the Lagos team retired to after the game.
Ikorodu City players and officials were held to hostage inside the stadium for at least two hours, they had to request the assurance of military escort before they would make their way out of the Stadium in Ibadan.
The onus now lies on the Nigeria Football Federation to look into the issue and take appropriate actions on the fans of Shooting Stars of Ibadan.