By Sammy Wejinya
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has demanded security guarantees from Nigerian club Rivers United ahead of Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup playoffs game against Enyimba International.
Enyimba officially complained to CAF about an “unsporting plan by Rivers United to unsettle and destabilize” their team ahead of the contest.
In the correspondence – which was made available to SPNAfricaNews and signed by the Enyimba chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu – Enyimba FC claimed that “Rivers United have concluded plans to disrupt and destabilize our team in the build-up to the playoff second leg match in Port Harcourt.”
“We write to bring to your urgent notice that we have received privileged information that our hosts in this weekend’s CAF Confederation Cup fixture, Rivers United, have concluded plans to disrupt and destabilize our team in the build-up to the playoff second leg match in Port Harcourt,” the correspondence read.
“This, we understand, they plan to achieve by engaging hoodlums who will storm the venue of our training to cause fracas, disrupt our training and create panic in our players.
“As implausible as it might have sounded, we are forced to not doubt our source, especially considering our previous experiences against the same team in Port Harcourt.
“In the build-up to our last meeting with them in Port Harcourt – a Nigeria Professional Football League fixture in 2019 – miscreants stormed our official training and almost physically assaulted our players. But they did not stop at that. Another set of hoodlums accessed our dressing room in preparation to kickoff to disrupt our pre-match proceedings and threaten our players. This incidence was officially reported to the League Management Company, LMC.
“With such despicable antecedents, it is therefore of immense importance that urgent steps be taken to stem any likelihood of a repeat in this game of enormous significance.
“Being a fellow country club, we had expected to be treated with fairness, hospitality and warmth during our time in Port Harcourt, but we are disheartened to learn of this untoward plan by our hosts.
“We want to stress Sir, that Rivers United enjoyed a smooth and hitch-free stay through the course of the first leg in Aba last weekend, and at no time was there any case of intimidation or harassment on their team. We therefore expect that in the spirit of fair play and friendship, the same hospitality be extended to our team in Port Harcourt.
“In light of the above, we wish to humbly request that.
1: arrangement are made to ensure that the match commissioner, Mr. Isaac T. Z. Montgomery, arrives in time to attend and monitor proceedings during our official training scheduled for 24 hours to kick-off
2: that the match commissioner ensures that the hosts provide, at all times, the right number of security details required for the safety of our entire delegation.
3: that all other measures that will guarantee the safety of our delegation are put in place.
“Let me humbly iterate our commitment to the integrity of the competition, as well as assure that such will be demonstrated again by the discipline that our team will carry into the match in Port Harcourt.
“Thank you for your usual understanding as we trust in your ability to take charge of the situation.”
CAF reacted swiftly to Enyimba’s complaint and duly instructed Rivers United to comply with security requirements for the game.
“We received a letter from Enyimba FC with the above subject matter wherein they brought to our notice a purported plan to use thugs to disrupt the official training of Enyimba FC as well as harass and intimate players and officials of the team,” read a CAF notification.
The correspondence, signed by Abdelmounaim, acting General Secretary, was also made available to SPNAfricaNews.
“Based on the above we would like to kindly request that a Police Security Guarantee Letter be sent to us on or before close of work on Friday 20th February 2021,” the correspondence read.
“We also will want to request that the Nigeria Football Federation should ensure that the CAF safety and security regulations are fully respected and implemented for this match.
“We will be looking forward to receiving the police security guarantee as requested while thanking you in anticipation of your favourable response and support in this regard to ensure that the match is played under the best of conditions.”
SPNAfricaNews then dug further and sought an interview with the Chairman of the Rivers State Football Association, Barrister Christopher Green. The Rivers State FA will be required to handle security arrangements for the game from the host’s perspective and Barrister Green said there would be no negative incidents on Sunday.
“I don’t understand why Mr. Anyansi-Agwu is crying wolf when there is none,” Barrister Green told SPNAfrica News on Saturday.
“We have put arrangements in place to ensure that this game on Sunday is played in a friendly atmosphere devoid of tension.
“I can assure you that there will be no issues, security-wise, come Sunday.”
SPNAfricaNews then sought closure by contacting the Enyimba camp on Sunday to ascertain if their team was harassed during their training session at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium on Saturday.
“There were no issues at at all during the training session on Saturday,” Enyimba’s spokesman, Zasi Samuel Bariza said. “The Rivers United General Manager, Chief Okey Kpalukwu and Barrister Green were both at the venue of the training session to ensure that all went seamlessly.”
Story by Sammy Wejinya
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