Safiu Kehinde
The Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) match between Kano Pillars and Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan ended in panic on Sunday as home fans at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano, stormed the pitch and attacked the match officials and players of the visiting team.
This occurred after 3SC snatched a late equaliser to deny Kano Pillars all three points.
The visitors found the back of the net in the 94th minute of play to dent Pillars’ 1-0 lead.
Immediately after the referee confirmed the goal which levelled the match to 1-1, hundreds of angry fans stormed the pitch and surged towards the match officials and visiting players.
The ugly incident captured in a video shared on X showed the fans attacking the officials and players before the police intervened, firing tear gas to disperse the mob.
The deed had however been done as subsequent videos of the aftermath showed injured and bloodied 3SC players lying on bare floor at their dressing room while being attended to by medical personnel.
While the extent of the attack and total number of injured players and officials is to be ascertained, the ugly incident had again sparked controversies over the organisation of the NPFL in terms of safety of players and match officials.