.Beckons on NFF, Sports Ministry to convince PTF, Health Ministry
Chairman of the Imo Football Association, Mazi Amanze Uchegbulam has raised an alarm over the safety of officials over the continued ban on spectatorship at football matches.
Uchegbulam made the call in a letter addressed to the President of the Nigerian Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick
According to him, the ban imposed as part of measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 has resulted in endless death threats from daring supporters who have stopped at nothing to defy the ban on spectatorship at match venues.
Uchegbulam said “The FA Chairmen also have been receiving death threats from daring supporters of various clubs whose access into the stadia have been denied. Shall we wait until a Football Administrator is killed for enforcing federal government directivee?”, he queried.
Further he lamented that club managers were evasive regarding given the needed cooperation to the State Football Associations to enforce the regulation even as he noted that they were not to blame due to the level of death threats they also received on their part.
The Imo FA boss called on Pinnick to liaise with the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare to help convince the Federal Ministry of Health and the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 to relax the rule and save administrators incessant threats and attacks during matches.
The former CAF member disclosed that fans argue that already markets, religious centres, social events and centres have resumed activities in full swing and thereby query the continued ban on spectatorship.
He noted that the Sports festival just concluded recently wherein fans were allowed to watch competitions in the stadium.
Uchegbulam called for the relax of the ban adding that the spectatorship can be reduced to half its original capacity as measure to check the spread of the covid virus.
Others include compulsory use of face masks and provision of hand washing points in all the stadiums across Nigeria.
Already leagues in Europe have relaxed their restrictions and spectators have been admitted into the various stadia.
The NFF had in a letter dated February 17th 2021 ordered spectatorship ban in adherence to the federal government policy on Covid-19.
The Imo Football Association boss lamented that it was an uphill task to manage the surge of fans during matches who consider it as a denial to stop them from watching and cheering their preferred teams.
