have condemned reports alleging that the matchday 35 fixture between Katsina United and Remo Stars had a 30-minute additional time.
The administrators of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) stated that the reports being circulated on various social media platforms and blog sites do not reflect the true situation of the event.
According to LMC on Monday, June 27, 2022, there was a disruption in the game which erupted after the home team contested the late equalising goal by Remo Stars.
Following the occurrence, there were encroachments on the pitch and it took time to restore the situation to normalcy while the referee upheld the goal scored by the visitors.
LMC in a statement said, “Some social media accounts have been spreading information that the match between Katsina United and Remo Stars had over 30 minutes added time.
“This is not true. The match was disrupted by players of Katsina United who protested Remo Stars’ second equalising goal late in the game.
“In the process of the players contesting the Referee’s decision, there was an encroachment on the field of play and it took some time before the encroachment was cleared and normalcy was restored,” the statement added.
Furthermore, LMC stressed that there is no occurrence in a 45-minute half that would warrant the referee to include a 30-minute added time, The Trumpet gathered.
Also in their explanations, the organisers of the Nigerian topflight division noted that some of the journalists, who may have followed the match through certain online sites that provide live scores of match events in real-time, may have been misled by the timing of the sites.
The statement continued: “The goal stood and the match duly restarted to conclude the remaining added minutes.
“However, most of those commenting, including some Sports Journalists followed the match on online live game trackers such as Livescore, Betway, flashscore and it needs to be pointed out that these platforms hardly indicate that a game was inactive and most times leave there match clock active throughout the match.
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“It is not possible for a Referee to allow 30 minutes of added time in a 45 minutes half. We appeal to fans and the media to always verify the information they share, especially such that are detrimental to the health of the brand,” LMC advised.
However, the LMC recalled that such an incident occurred in matchday 33 fixture between Lobi Stars and Heartland of Owerri where there were a series of injuries in first-half that resulted in a false report of 27-minute added time by blog sites and websites.
