Irate Akure Fans Beat Up Balogun, Dan Fulani;Match Officials Held Hostage

Ugly scenes of violence marred Sunday’s Nigeria Professional Football League Week 9 encounter between Sunshine Stars and Shooting Stars in Akure.

Sunshine Stars triumphed 2-1 but the game itself was overshadowed by the vicious, unprovoked attack on 3SC General Manager, Rasheed Balogun, and the team General Coordinator, Abubakar Abubakar a.k.a Dan Fulani, by the irate Akure fans at the VIP stand of the Ondo State Sports Complex, Akure.

Eye witness accounts revealed that the unruly fans descended heavily on Balogun and Dan Fulani after 3SC equalized through Tope Orelope, with both administrators sustaining injuries.

Balogun and Dan Fulani were immediately rushed to the hospital.

All the cameramen recording the match were forced to stop recording before Okiki Afolabi, late goal.

“It was God that saved me because at a point when they were beating me, I never knew if I am alive or not.

“I lost money, wrist-watch and other valuables at the process of the attack,” Balogun said while taking medical attention in the hospital.

The two administrators were attacked last season at the stadium.

However, it took the intervention of heavily armed security men before the match officials were rescued out of the Stadium after the match.

Tunde Shamsudeen