LMC fines
club, suspend official for one year
Super
Eagles’ Assistant Coach, Imama Amakapabo, was yesterday in Abuja seized by
gunmen, who claimed to be security operatives working on the orders of the
coach’s
last club, Enugu Rangers. The gunmen claimed that the coach was
arrested because he was in possession of some items belonging to the defending
Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) champions months after he was suspended
by the club.
A source
close to the coach said Amakapabo was surprised by Rangers’ attitude to him,
adding the coach was told by the management of the club that he was on
suspension and not sacked as claimed by some other officials.
The source,
who said he had not been able to get in contact with the coach as his phone was
switched off, apparently by his abductors, added that Rangers were still
indebted to the former Enyimba trainer to the tune of N52 million.
“Imama’s
salary is N2 million monthly and Rangers have to settle the debt if they want
to terminate his two-year contract. When they realised the implication of their
action, they quickly changed the sack to suspension and yet they have not paid
him a dime.
“Imama was
in Abuja to meet with the arbitration panel and he planned to move to Kano from
there to join the home-based Super Eagles’ team. Somebody simply wants to
rubbish him,” he said.
However, in
his reaction to the incident, Rangers General Manager, Christian Chukwu said
the club invited the police to help recover Enugu State government properties
still being held by the coach.
“It is three
months now since Imama left Rangers after he was relieved of his managerial
role,” Chukwu said in an interview with Brila FM.“He left with the club’s
official car and the keys to his official accommodation.
“We have
written to him three times to return the vehicle and house keys, but he has
refused to comply.“Right now our chief coach does not have an official car.“The
owner of the house has been asking us to come and remove our things and
surrender the keys. But we cannot do that in the absence of Imama who owns the
items in the house,” he added.
Meanwhile,
the League Management Company has charged Enugu Rangers and the club’s
Secretary, Elder Joseph Onwukwe for infractions of the NPFL rules and framework
in the course of mediation proceedings in the dispute between the club and
Amapakabo.
The LMC has
subsequently levied sanctions on the club and the official with Rangers fined
N5 million and Onwukwe banned from all NPFL activities for one year.The LMC
also directed Rangers to pay the sacked coach various sums, including N14, 560,
000 representing his salaries for April to October 2017 and compensation for wrongful
termination, N1, 600, 000 representing his salary for November and December
2016, N600,000, which represents arrears of allowances and bonuses and $725
which is international travel allowance owed Amapakabo.Onwukwe was charged for
breaches of Appendix E1.5, Appendix E1.4 (Code of Conduct for Club Officials),
C28 and C1 of the Framework and Rules.
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