The management of Heartland Football Club of Owerri has told the League Management Company (LMC) that the Week 19 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match scheduled for Friday night at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium against Enugu Rangers would be counterproductive to its players.
“Management and players have said outright no to the demand by LMC for the side to head to Enugu for the Friday night’s football at Enugu Rangers on Friday,” a Heartland official, Solomon Onuh, said.
The Naze Millionaires will host Plateau United today at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri for Week 18 encounter.
Onuh, according to reports, however, said that the Owerri side appreciates and is in full support of the new development by the LMC to improve the league, but affirmed that the implications outweigh the merits as human lives are involved.
“We truly like the innovations, but not at the detriment of human lives, which the order seems to overlook.
“We cannot finish the Week 18 clash in midweek against Plateau United and then travel to Enugu on Thursday to engage Enugu Rangers on Friday; that will be too demanding and tedious on the part of the entire team,” Onuh explained.
The official emphasised further: “We just returned from Kano on Monday after the Sunday match at Kano Pillars and here we are on Tuesday training for another crucial game on Wednesday against Plateau United and somebody deems it fair on us to head off to Enugu on Thursday to play on Friday against a difficult opponent like Enugu Rangers.
“The same LMC that wants us to play Rangers on Friday has carefully shifted the side’s midweek match at El Kanemi Warriors in Maiduguri to Wednesday, June 01.
“For us to give our very best in the match, we want the LMC to move the oriental derby to Saturday or preferably on Sunday but Friday is completely a wrong date for the match,” Onuh Concluded