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Akwa Utd chase out TV crew

Akwa Utd chase out TV crew

Posted: 2009-03-08 20:48

Akwa United fans allegedly chased out the SuperSport TV crew who had come to cover their League match on Sunday against Bayelsa United, threatening to burn the Outside Broadcast van, camera and other equipment.

The Uyo club now face a N15 million fine.

Akwa lost 1-0 to Heartland the last time their home game was live on SuperSport, and club officials claimed that the players were unsettled by the presence of the TV cameras.

This time, they were said to have threatened to destroy and burn the equipment, and the crew were forced to de-rig and return to their hotel.

"They told us that if we didn’t leave the stadium, they would burn our equipment," SuperSport presenter Mozez Praiz told KickOffNigeria.com.

"We had to remove our equipment from the stadium and take everything back to the hotel."

NPL Head of Competitions Tunji Babalola confirmed that he had been notified and made it clear that as soon as the match commissioner's report was received by the NPL, Akwa United would face the maximum punishment.

"The rules are very clear about this situation and they will have to pay the fine as soon as we get the report from the match commissioner," Babalola said.

However, Akwa United official James Eberefe said the situation was different.

"We did not chase them out," he told KickOffNigeria.com.

"There was a slight problem involving the two sets of fans and match officials and the SuperSport officials said they wanted to leave as they could not guarantee the safety of their equipment.

"I was there with some other officials and we told them not to leave as the situation had nothing to do with them.

"We even offered to give them a written guarantee of the safety and security of their personnel and equipment.

"But by the time we got back for the start of the match, they had packed up their equipment and left."

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Billion: 2009-03-08 21:11

We were not told the outcome of the match but I hope the NPL will dish out a maximum penalty for this ugly incident. If things like this continue in our PL, I wonder what the future of our football will be! I weep for Nigeria...I weep...

Kwabs: 2009-03-08 21:12

Heeehehe!Dem wan do ojoro now!Supersports wan put sand, sand for their garri! Up naija football.The more you look, the less u see!

Billion: 2009-03-08 21:18

Kwabs, go back to Kickoff Ghana...plssss

Kwabs: 2009-03-08 21:18

Billion u dey weep? Kpele ooooo! I don tell u plenty times say problems full ground for naija football like Zuma rock. Dat one be say u got put eye krokro for tins wey concern naija football. Make u no put mouth for things we no concern naija, but u ne dey hear word. U see say u come dey cry now? Sorry oooooh! If you come laugh say Ghana no fit win CHAN, wetin u go do for the team we no even smell CHAN at all, at all. Eno bi weeping, gnashing of teeth and dry fasting u go do? But u no hear word at all!

Kwabs: 2009-03-08 21:19

Billion u dey weep? Kpele ooooo! I don tell u plenty times say problems full ground for naija football like Zuma rock. Dat one be say u got put eye krokro for tins wey concern naija football. Make u no put mouth for things we no concern naija, but u ne dey hear word. U see say u come dey cry now? Sorry oooooh! If you come laugh say Ghana no fit win CHAN, wetin u go do for the team we no even smell CHAN at all, at all. Eno bi weeping, gnashing of teeth and dry fasting u go do? But u no hear word at all!

Kwabs: 2009-03-08 21:21

Billion, make I go to kickoffGhana ba? Okay now, I dey wait for you on kickoffGhana!

Billion: 2009-03-08 21:46

Kwabs, I told you before that I've never seen a black star shine. STARS ARE NOT BLACK! THEY'RE SIMPLY SHINING STARS!! Change your name from BLACK STARS to SHINING STARS like we did from GREEN EAGLES to SUPER EAGLES. Little wonder we're SUPER??

adefemi : 2009-03-08 23:26

Whenever there is a conflict of statements, a full scal investigation is necessary to prevents comments like that of Kwabs. There is no need for pre-trial judgement on any of the parties. So over to NPL to investigate and come out with the truth.

long : 2009-03-08 23:38

its the internet, so anybody can log into any site
with his/her comments,the issues are in the front burner so there is nothing to hide.if indeed the super sports crew were barred as alleged, the rules are clear, there is a price to pay and they will comply. i don't care who comes into the Nigerian site to ventilate, the sensible comments i react to the dumb ones i ignore. what i know is that issues such as this gets to the public domain, so that there is a deterrence for others who think that they are co****ed and cannot be scrutinized.

Fireman: 2009-03-09 01:13

Who the heck cares about CHAN (that's what it's called right?). Richie, your logic is silly. Why do you think we have a league? We can discover players from the NPL. Nobody cares that we did not qualify, and really, nobody would have cared if we won the whole pointless tournament.

I have no qualms if you're happy with your silver medal in CHAN. Congratulations. Ghana doesn't win a lot of trophies/medals so we give you guys props. We've recently won the U-17 WC and olympic silver medal. In 2005 we came second in the U-20 WC. I'm sure you know we've won the olympics already. But you don't hear nigerians making noise. We keep criticizing our team because we want the top honors. Not all home-based players are committed just like not all foreign-based players are. As far as we get the results and get to the WC in SA, we're fine. Then we can start thinking of performing well at the WC.

get your priorities straight, bro.

Boa: 2009-03-09 02:25

Richie, this is the type of post I hope to see from non-Nigerian forum members. Clean and non-insulting -unlike most of your previous posts.
Your point is well made. Sensible.
No one learns to run without learning to walk first. I hope our NFF sees the wisdom in your post and focus heavily on developing our domestic league rather than the usual over-reliance on the overseas-based players. You are right. “They feel untouchable”
Viewing the not-so-glamorous successes as insignificant, and only waiting and hoping for the bigger successes is usually unrealistic and pride-driven. Little achievements often lead to greater ones.
I envy the potential selection problem your national team coach may now have. Congratulations on the Silver. Better luck with Gold next time. Cheers!

Manebay: 2009-03-09 05:24

Richie and Kwabs..........why are there Ghanians plying their international soccer trade in Nigeria? Are there Nigerian professional Players in Ghana? Do you remember Edward Ansah...........who later became your national keeper? Naija pass Ghana by far! No comparison. You may be winning local laurels now i.e AYC in rwanda and Silver in CHAN, that still doesn't matter, Naija pass Ghana. Has Ghana smelt a senior age grade final tournament like the Olympics? Nope! we have been there two times.........been to the world cup quarter finals, what is the comparison? Abeg make una go rest!

Sley: 2009-03-09 08:28

Lets conc on the topic:Akwa Utd chase out TV crew.. Why must such happen in this beautiful country of ours full of bribery, corruption,scandal,-ve vices? Y must akwa bcos they want 2 win their home match by all course chase supersport away so that they can manipulate the match in their favour bcos Hertland won them when SSport viewed it live. Let akwa face the penalty. We need clubs like hertland& some few ones that shows discipline during league match..NFF must look into this

long : 2009-03-09 11:38

i quite agree with richie, it does not have to do with winning always, it is also about uncovering new talents that will be infused into the mainstream team.while we are it, soccer loving Nigerians were very hurt when we failed to qualify for the competition. lets stop kidding ourselves, failure to qualify for the maiden African cup shows that the standard locally is declining, the coaches, the players, the f.a. a spade is not a hoe, neither is a rake a broom.

Frank: 2009-03-09 14:54

Should we not cover our faces in shame? How can the players be unsettled by TV cameras? In this day and age? In Nigeria? Shame! Akwa United obviously won the match as their log standing has improved from 15th to 12th and their point haul has also improved. Am I the only one ashamed of Nigeria and Nigerians?

Frank: 2009-03-09 15:00

Good point, Nigerian Gunner. Make no mistakes about it there's no basis for any form of comparism between Nigeria and Ghana. Yes, we have problems but we still know our level. Ghana should contest superiority with Gambia, Togo and Benin.

Boa: 2009-03-09 17:09

Are we sure we are reading the same post? Did Richie anywhere say the Stars- local or International- are better than us, or that they have achieved more than us? Can’t some of you guys read? Didn't he even helped some of you with clarification of his intent- “no insults or no taunts”. Is it not true that they qualified at our expense? Weren’t we all upset when we were knocked out and some even called for Emordi’s head? Don’t come now and say the competition was not important because we were knocked out of it. If it was not important, we should not have participated in it. Typical with nija, always claiming to be better than we really are.
Please read his post again and again may be you’ll eventually see what he’s saying- that the CHAN competition has helped them discover some potentially good local players. Simple.
Sometimes I wonder about our level of common sense compared to other nationalities.

Boa: 2009-03-10 03:51

Kriss, maybe if you’d calm down a bit you’ll think clearer. Please help me understand (really). Tell me where Richie or I stated that the Stars have achieved more than Nigeria in football? And where did you “read” that I agreed with him on that? And you talk about Looney? You can do better than what you just showed here. Please.

Frank: 2009-03-10 10:29

@ Boa,Kr1ss has said all there is to say to u.

Boa: 2009-03-12 19:12

Wedged. Of course there’s nothing more to be said by him (or you for that matter) mr busybody spokes person. There can’t be.
I was wrong about you. I though you’d have the sense to see what Richie was obviously saying.