The final match of the female football event at the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival in Edo ended in a brawl on Monday over allegations of bias against the referee.
Edo team piped Lagos girls by a lone goal to clinch the gold medal in the event.
Crisis, however, erupted immediately the referee signaled an end to the match, watched by Philip Shaibu, Edo Deputy Governor and Chairman of the festival’s Local Organising Committee (LOC).
The Lagos team accused the central referee of bias for adding only one minute of extra time despite the time wasted during the match.
Some of the supporters then attempted to attack the referee.
This led to a confrontation between security agents and supporters of the Lagos team at the University of Benin pitch, venue of the encounter.
The tension between the supporters of the two teams was later doused through the intervention of some security agents and other stakeholders.
