Fc Ona Pal CEO Paul Obinna’s Unsportsmanlike Conduct Mars Akwa Ibom State FA Cup Clash .
A fierce rivalry between Nigerian Nationwide League One Clubs Fc Ona Pal and Sir Monty Fc spilled onto their Akwa Ibom state FA Cup encounter today at the training pitch of the Godswill Akpabio International stadium Uyo.
The Referee had to call off the tension soaked match after 79 minutes following a moment of unsportsmanlike behaviour by the Chairman of FC Ona Pal Engineer Paul Obinna who stormed the pitch in commando fashion with the intent of attacking the match officials.
This followed a penalty call by the Referee after a Fc Ona Pal defender handled a goal bound cross in his teams penalty area. The FC Ona Pal chairman had prior to kickoff made inciting comments which attracted boiling reactions both sets of fans throughout the 79 minutes of the game .
Sir Monty Fc were the better side for much of the first half with Wasteful finishing their only undoing in the first 45 minutes which finished 0-0. Fc Ona Pal emerged from the break like a house on fire piling pressure on the Sir Monty Fc defence with surging runs from both flanks .
In the 79th minute , a goal bound effort by a Sir Monty Fc forward was pushed away with the hand by a Fc Ona Pal Defender. The Referee who was in close proximity spotted the incident and signalled for a Penalty. There were no dissenting views to the decision but Mr Obinna Paul made true his pre match vow by storming the pitch to disrupt proceedings.
The game was brought to a halt as all efforts by Football stakeholders and fans to make the Fc Ona Pal boss exit the pitch fell on deaf ears. The Referee after exhausting due time called off the game .
Mr Paul Obinna immediately pounced on the Assistant Referee two hauling blows on the Referee . This act led to violent reactions by the fans who vented their anger on Mr Obinna and his team manager Lawrence Ekaette for their unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Nigerian football community is still grappling with the ugly incidents that followed Wednesdays NPFL encounter between 3SC and Remo Stars where a Journalist was attacked by fans of 3SC in Ibadan. The LMC has in a swift reaction fined 3SC a total of 3.5 million plus bans persons fingered with roles in the incident as Nigeria moves to rid of Unsportsmanlike conducts in the beautiful game of football.
In a bid to arrest this unfortunate development the Akwa Ibom state football Association having witnessed and taken video proof of the entire unfortunate incident will in the coming days decide on the appropriate disciplinary sanctions and status of the Abandoned game between Sir Monty Fc and Fc Ona Pal.
The Akwa Ibom state FA cup will continue on Monday 6th June 2022 with Fc One Rocket taking on Ikot Ekpene United Fc by 4pm at the Training Pitch of the Godswill Akpabio international stadium Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.
