Key stakeholders have raised the alarm over administrative and technical malpractice which according to them might lead to total collapse of handball in Nigeria.
Speaking on their behalf, a board member of Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Alhaji Saidu Jibril Ojih, beckoned on the youth and sports ministry to urgently rescue the game of handball in time.
Ojih in a media briefing, in Abuja, particularly frowned at the organisation of the second Phase of the 2022 Prudent Energy Handball Premier League in Lagos where he said two ineligible players were allowed to participate.
He said such measure violated the rules and regulations under Section 3d of the rules and regulations for the tournament.
According to him, “The moment you don’t have leadership and arbitration, then you can’t have success in the technical aspects of the game. Administration is a yardstick for you to coordinate, direct and ensure conformity to set standard. The moment there’s deviation, then there is failure because you can’t get it right.
“The team – clubs coaches, players and major stakeholders in the game all met and agreed that the rules should be binding on all who take part in the second phase of Prudent Energy Handball League, comprising about 12 female teams and 11 male teams.
“Its unfortunate when a player from Kano Pillars and Lagos Seasider with jersey number 50 played for Kano and jersey number 41 in played for a Benin republic handball club. This same player played for a handball championship in Niger.
“Our rule in section 3d says any player, nationally or internationally must not register for two clubs. The rule is explicit, with no encumbrances. Unfortunately for Kano and Lagos Seasider, two of their players went to partake in Tunisia Africa club championship that took place some months ago. Only for them to comeback saying they want to partake in our league. They are not eligible to take part in the tournament.
“Our protest was forwarded to the officials, only for the officials to come out and say our evidences are not sufficient, without giving us the opportunity to present them for fair hearing…”
Ojih who is the Secretary General Commonwealth Handball Association, blamed the leadership of the present Handball Board for the low profile recorded in this year’s league competition.
“It is bad and unfortunate that we talk of the presidency and the leaders of our country but at our own minimal level, we destroy things. Sport is a friendly affair, it is an interesting issue and people are happy to be part of it but once we bring disheartening decision among the participating teams and the players we are trying to encourage, we are destroying the game.
“Giving frivolous and biased judgements without fair hearing destroys the good intentions of sport. It is in the light of this, I want to inform Nigerians that handball is being killed by the so called people we call President of federations. The minister, permanent secretary may not know what is going on in the sporting federation.
“People take their personal aggrandisement into sport. We got a sponsorship – Prudent Energy. As I’m talking to you now, I can’t categorically tell you how much comes into the federation from that sponsorship. We are only told what they want us to know. By normal right, all the federation dealings should be paid into the federation personal account.
“It’s so sad that some group of people have refused to obey laws that are enshrined to ensure successful playing of handball in Nigeria. We want everyone to know that things are not being done properly. Handball in Nigeria is now ran from the coverts of bedrooms rather than the code of governance enshrined by the Federal Ministry of Youth sports development. This could cause teams to drag their case to anywhere they feel justice will be served to them,” he said.
The handball stakeholders also made available copies of protest letters and other supporting documents submitted to the technical committee of the HFN, copied to relevant persons and bodies.
However, the HFN leadership is yet to react to the latest development as at the time of filling this report.
