Club face NPFL sanction for breach of procedure
Some supporters of the Warri Wolves Football Club of Warri, have accused the Delta Sports Commission of high-handedness over the suspension of Warri Wolves’ head coach, Napoleon Aluma.
Aluma was suspended on Monday evening for what his employers termed “poor performance” following the team’s 1-2 home defeat to visiting Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan in their Match Day 6 encounter at the Southern Delta University Stadium, Ozoro.
The suspended coach was told to hand over all official documents and responsibilities, in the interim to his assistant coach, Johnny Austin, until further notice.
But the decision has not gone down well with some supporters and fans of the club, who said that suspending the coach barely six weeks into the season was hasty, considering his contribution to the club, which gained promotion to the elite division at the end of last season.
Some of the stakeholders, yesterday, faulted the management for the suspension saying that they should have investigated the circumstances that led to the home defeat to 3SC.
One of the stakeholders, Okemutie Ovie, said that he watched the said game against 3SC, adding that there were some extenuating circumstances that led to the home loss.
“I watched the match, and at the end, we found out that some of the regular players fell sick after their trip to Maiduguri for the game against El-Kanemi Warriors. Some picked up injuries in that game, and Coach Napo had to assemble almost a new starting 11 for the game against 3SC. I don’t think the coach deserved the suspension. He even won his first match of the season away against Katsina United.”
But a top official of Delta Sports Commission countered such a claim. He said: “Coach Aluma recommended that we should register 40 players on our payroll for this season, which we did. He traveled with only 18 players to Maiduguri for the game against El-Kanemi Warriors. Even if some of the players are injured, what happened to the remaining 22 players? Are they just collecting salaries? It shows that Coach Aluma’s recruitment was faulty.”
The official, who pleaded anonymity, added: “We are not even looking at it from that angle. Majority of the players are complaining that Aluma forces them to do dry fasting in line with his religious belief even before a match. We have it on good authority that he benched some of his regular players for the match against 3SC just because they drank water during the fasting period he forced on the team. Who does that?
“In the match against 3SC on Sunday, Coach Aluma played four defensive midfielders. All the fans were shocked to see a home team playing defensive game instead of attacking. We have been tolerating him (the coach), and we need to act fast to save Warri Wolves FC. The state government is giving the club so much attention now, paying the players salary and match bonuses. The government is doing everything possible to ensure the completion of Warri Township Stadium as quickly as possible for the club to return to Warri. We won’t give room to any flimsy excuses.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has cautioned Warri Wolves over the suspension, saying that the club failed to adhere to procedures for contracting coaches.
In a letter titled, “Notarization and Registration of Contracts” addressed to the club and signed by the NPFL Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, the club was mandated to ensure full compliance by submitting its contract with all of the club’s technical and management officials.
The NPFL cited its Frameworks and Rules for 2025/26 in demanding compliance by Warri Wolves, stating that “you are aware that the framework and rules of the NPFL 2025/2026 season , Section B, article 6 and 11, clearly states the requirements for engagement and procedure for registration of contracts for all club officials.
“You are however in breach of these sections as Warri Wolves FC have not submitted the contracts of its officials to the League Board. You are hereby requested to within twenty-four hours of receiving this letter, submit all relevant contracts of your technical team, including that of the assumed suspended head coach, Mr. Napoleon Aluma to the Secretariat of the NPFL.”
The letter warned that the club may have to play its future matches without a bench on account of failure to comply with the directive.
“Note that failure to comply with this instruction will lead to the restriction of your technical team from accessing the technical area in future NPFL matches,” the body warned.
