For failure to comply with the rules and regulations governing the Nigeria Federation Cup, the River State Football Association have been fined by the Nigeria Football Federation.
The fine of N500,000 was reprieve for the Rivers football body which had contravened a vital section of the NFF rules as the state did not play any preliminary games in the Federation Cup but only hand picked the two state-owned clubs, Sharks FC of Port Harcourt and Dolphins FC of Brass as the state’s representatives for the national preliminaries.
The NFF Director of Competitions, Dr Mohammed Sanusi had earlier in the week read a riot act ostracising the two Rivers state teams from the national preliminaries according to him as : “No preliminary matches were played in the state in accordance with the rules and regulations governing the competition.”
The NFF then made it clear that the two representatives from Rivers State, Sharks and Dolphins would be barred from competing in the 2013 Federation Cup.
The NFF also added that “the 2013 preliminary matches of the Federation Cup in Rivers were officiated by unqualified/registered referees.”
The Rivers FA quickly moved to launch an appeal, which forced the NFF Organising Committee to call an emergency meeting in Abuja.
The NFF ruled in the meeting that matches in the 2013 Rivers State Federation Cup be replayed from the semi-final stages with the finalists expected to be accommodated in the draws of the 2013 Federation Cup.
A fine of N500,000 be paid by the Rivers FA before the round of 64 stages of the competition.
An executive committee member of the federation explained that they reached the decision “following exhaustive deliberations on the issue.”
“It was a very serious situation but following exhaustive deliberations on the issue, it was decided that the resolutions reached were for the best,” he said.
Sharks will now meet Go Round FC in the first semi-final while Dolphins will face Eleme United in the second semifinal match of the Rivers State Federation Cup.
