The Heartland FC of Owerri has threatened to appeal the sanctions imposed on the club recently by the League Management Company (LMC) for fan violence.
The Executive Chairman of the club, Mr Goodfaith Etuemena, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Owerri on Tuesday that the order to pay N4,750,000 fine was not acceptable to the club.
Etuemena said that the fine did not go well with the club, saying, however, that the club was not interested in any legal battle with the LMC but to set the records straight.
“We are not going to engage the LMC in any legal battle, but we want people who already believe the violence story to hear our own side,” he said.
The LMC last week fined the club a total of N4,750,000 after finding it guilty of six offences and ordered that its next three home games be played behind closed doors.
It had alleged serious violence at the Dan Anyiam Stadium on July 23 when Heartland FC took on FC Ifeanyi Ubah in a week 28 fixture.
Some of the players of the visiting club were attacked by unidentified fans as a crowd trooped into the pitch after the game ended goalless.
However, the Media Officer of Heartland FC, Mr Solomon Onu, denied the allegation of fan violence during and after the match.
Onu said that if there was any violence, it did not happen during the match or anywhere around the stadium.
“We challenge anybody to come and prove to us that there was violence at the stadium during and after the game,” he said. (NAN)