The Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL Interim Management Committee, IMC has told El Kanemi Warriors to play their home games under close doors henceforth pending investigation, Nigeriasoccernet.com understands.
The IMC gave the ruling after it observed the poor state of the Maiduguri Stadium playing turf and security issues during their match day 5 tie with Bendel Insurance.
The IMC reminded the club of an earlier correspondence on an ongoing review of the provisional approval granted it for the El-Kanemi Stadium and advice therein to restrict the use of the stadium to only football activities, the IMC urged the club to prepare to relocate to an alternate ground as recent assessment of the playing pitch shows that the present condition is still far from ideal
“You are therefore expected to take more expedient steps to improve the quality of the playing pitch.
“You are further advised to notify the league secretariat of your preferred alternate ground in the interim, to act as a safeguard, in the event that you are unable to carryout adequate improvement to the playing pitch of the El-Kanemi Stadium within stipulated time”, the IMC wrote in the memo to the club.
On the alleged security breach, the IMC informed El-Kanemi that it has commenced investigation into reports of “your most recent home game, and pending the outcome of the investigation, you are hereby ordered to play your future home games strictly under closed doors”.
By Uche Dozie