Secretary General of the Supporters Club of Shooting Stars football club of Ibadan Honorable Adelodun Adewale Asela has made a passionate appeal to the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) and the Organizing and Disciplinary Committee of the NFF( O and F) to show empathy with the Oluyole Warriors while reviewing the proceeding of the match 32 of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) between the team and visiting Ikorodu City Football club played at the main bowl of the Lekan Salami stadium Ibadan on Sunday.
The match ended with the center referee from Ogun State Olufunmilola Alaba being escorted out of the stadium premises by security officials after the fans were despatched by stern looking policemen.
The fans were enraged that officiating by the referee seemed to be against them due to what they regarded as her deliberate act of preventing the Shooting stars from scoring or even having an advantage over its opponents during the second half of the encounter by her bias against their team.
Honorable Asela urged the Organization and Disciplinary Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the NPFL to temper justice with mercy bearing in mind that what played out was wrongly portrayed or depicted.
The Secretary General said that both Shooting Stars and Ikorodu players exit had to be delayed because of the tension outside the main bowl noting that the delay was not peculiar to Ikorodu City but done to prevent anything untoward from happening to the visitors and the referees.
Honorable Asela posited that the homers were very hospitable and friendly adding that the situation after the match should not be misconstrued as a siege by fans on the visitors stressing that Ikorodu City fans should not even contemplate revenge as the Shooting Stars Football club is not known to be violent or troublesome.
“ We are a very hospitable and friendly team as what happened was a security measure meant to protect both the visitors, referees and the homers “ he said “ we urge the O and D to mitigate whatever decision they will take against the home team by being considerate besides showing empathy even as we urge the visitors fans to show understanding”
The Secretary General also seized the opportunity to explain that the fans should not be mistaken for the Supporters club who often accompanied Shooting Stars to away matches to cheer them to victory noting that the fans are not registered with the team but only come to stadium to watch home games saying that it was unfortunate that they allowed their emotions to overwhelm them by doing what they did after the encounter.
