NFF Disciplinary Committee Clears Kano Pillars, Katsina United to Play At Home

NFF Disciplinary Committee Clears Kano Pillars, Katsina United to Play At Home

By BSN Sports 

Kano Pillars and Katsina United have both been cleared to return to their respective home grounds after serving five-match stadium bans, following rulings by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Disciplinary Committee, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

The decisions were reached at the Committee’s meeting on Wednesday and bring relief to both clubs after disciplinary actions forced them to play home fixtures away from their traditional venues.

Four-time Nigerian champions Kano Pillars will resume home matches at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano, after completing a five-game ban imposed over crowd disturbances during their Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) fixture against Shooting Stars Sports Club on October 12, 2025.

The stadium had initially been closed indefinitely, forcing Pillars to relocate home games to the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina. However, after reviewing the club’s protest against the NPFL sanctions, the NFF Disciplinary Committee upheld most of the original rulings but reduced the closure to a five-match ban.

That ban will be fully served at the conclusion of Matchday 18 against Plateau United, clearing the way for Kano Pillars to welcome fans back to Sani Abacha Stadium for their next home fixture against Nasarawa United in the final match of the first stanza.

In its findings, the Committee confirmed that Kano Pillars failed to provide adequate security, allowing unauthorized individuals access to restricted areas of the stadium. Supporters were also found to have thrown objects onto the pitch, causing a temporary stoppage of play.

More seriously, the Committee established that fans invaded the pitch and assaulted Shooting Stars players and match officials, actions deemed capable of bringing the game into disrepute. Club officials admitted responsibility for the misconduct of supporters and appealed for leniency.

Despite this, the Committee upheld several fines against the club, including ₦1,000,000 each for failure to provide adequate security and for throwing objects onto the field of play. Additional fines of ₦1,000,000 each were imposed under partially adopted sanctions relating to misconduct and unproven compensatory claims, while ₦1,500,000 was awarded as compensatory damages to match officials, in line with Article C.12 of the NPFL Framework and Rules.

The Disciplinary Committee also maintained the deduction of three points and three goals from Kano Pillars’ accumulated tally for the assault on match officials.

At the same sitting, the Committee ruled on a protest involving Katsina United following their NPFL fixture against Barau FC on November 8, 2025, at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium.

Katsina United were found guilty of inadequate security arrangements, failure to control supporters, and throwing objects and stones onto the pitch. The incident resulted in injury to Barau FC player Abraham Nana.

As a result, Katsina United were fined a total of ₦3,000,000 across various sanctions. An earlier directive relocating the club to Jos City Stadium was reduced to a five-match ban, which will run concurrently.

The ban will expire on Matchday 21 against Plateau United, after which Katsina United will return to their home ground, with fans allowed back in the stands starting from their subsequent home fixture against Abia Warriors.

The NFF Disciplinary Committee stressed that all decisions are without prejudice to the right of appeal by the affected clubs.