Plateau United Football Club of Jos on Sunday beat hosts Wikki Tourists FC 1-0 in Bauchi in a Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Match Day 23 fixture.
The match played at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium saw several players getting booked.
The match had started with centre referee Imam Malik giving a yellow card to Hassan Abubakar of the home team for delaying the kick-off of the encounter.
In the 39th minute, the match was disrupted when the stadium was thrown into a state of pandemonium as some Wikki fans threw stones and sachet water at fans of the visiting team.
The match was then suspended for over 10 minutes as Plateau United fans rushed towards the stadium exit for safety but were blocked by security personnel.
Sunday Anthony had scored the match’s lone goal in the 34th minute, leading to an agitation by some fans of the home side.
However, in a post-match interview, the Technical Adviser of Wikki Tourists, Usman Abdallah, said even though his players lost the game but he still considered it a gallant loss.
“It is unfortunate that we lost the three points and it is our hope to recover the loss.
“We would have been in the seventh position now if we had won, but it is saddening for both the players and technical crew that we lost.
“However, we hope to amend this in our next match in Ilorin,” he said.
Commenting on the pandemonium that almost disrupted the match, Abdallah stated: “We will enlighten our fans and supporters against football hooliganism.
READ ALSO: Guardiola names best number 9, 10 in football
“We can not afford a situation where the game’s ruling body will either ban us from playing here or ban our supporters from watching our home matches.’’
Abdallah however expressed reservations about the game’s officiating, claiming that his opposite number was equally unhappy with the match officials.
“I am also not happy with the officiating aspect of the match. I and my Plateau United counterpart have earlier complained against it when we saw the choice of referees,” he stated.
Abdul Maikaba, the Technical Adviser of Plateau United, however refused to comment on the match.
“You can’t be expecting me to wait and talk to you while I and my boys as well as supporters are being pursued like rats,” he said.(NAN)
