…risks expulsion from CAF Confederation Cup
Abia Warriors Football Club of Umuahia, Nigeria representative in the 2025/26 CAF Confederation Cup may face the hammer from the continental football body over failure to settle more than N15.15 million debts owed players for over 12 months.
The Abia State football club failed to comply with the judgment of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Players Arbitration and Status Committee delivered against the club, and this may attract punishment from CAF, which might mean expelling the club from the continental competition.
The judgement delivered in May 2024 by the Players Arbitration and Status Committee mandated Abia Warriors to pay its former players including Imoh Azuibuike N3.15, Julius Obinna N3, Ikedinachi Nwakanma N4, and Alegbe Victor N5 million respectively within 45 days from the date of judgement.
However, the club failed to meet up with the instruction within the stipulated time frame of 45 days from the date of judgement, even after over 365 days, Abia Warriors FC could not settle up to 50 percent of the sum owed players.
Hence, has violated the Players Arbitration and Status Committee ruling and demonstrated incapacity to satisfy the financial requirements in the CAF Licensing criteria before a club can be allowed to participate in CAF Competitions.
One of the conditions for a club to participate in the CAF Competitions is to satisfy the CAF Club licensing criteria which include the following sporting, infrastructure, administrative and personnel, legal and finance.
In all the CAF orgainsed club competitions, clubs are required meet needed standards before it can be granted a license to participate in any of the continental inter-club competitions such as CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, among others.
Worst still, in a recent decision issued by the NFF Players Arbitration and Status Committee in April 2025 the club was also mandated to pay Aloma Idris N5, and Igweuzo Nnamdi N6 million each, for unlawful contract terminations on or before June 2.
To avoid CAF’s hammer, Abia Warriors FC needs to quickly settle these debts before the deadline for CAF Club licensing which may end by June 30; or prepare to forfeit being cleared by NFF to participate in the CAF confederations competition.
Abia Warriors qualified to represent Nigeria in the second tier of the continental inter-club competition by finishing third in the 2024/25 NPFL table.
At the end of the compulsory 38 matches, the club secured 60 points, winning 18 matches, drawing six, and losing 14, it scored 43 goals and conceded 40, to place third behind Remo Stars, and Rivers United in first and second place respectively.
The Imama Amapakabo coached football club has achieved a great feat by qualify for the continental ticket for the first time, but poor management is set to rob the Abians the joy of seeing darling club participate in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Poor football club management has for years been a clog in the progress of the round leather game in Nigeria, especially at the areas of players welfare.
Mozez Praiz, television host/sportscaster at Supersport speaking during a sports conference emphasized that Nigerian clubs can maximise business aspect of sports, pointing out the problem with most sports clubs is lack of knowledge about the business of sports.
“Club chairmanship is given as a political compensation as against professionalism. Most of the club administrators don’t have blueprints on how to grow the clubs,” he said.
Praiz explained that to grow a club, the ideal thing is to start with building the fan base, and that to achieve this, there is a need to give the fans a sense of ownership.
And to build a fan base requires taking care of the players who are the main actors in this enterprise.
Alex Oti, the governor of Abia State and the club chairman of Abia Warriors must rise to the occasion, and the football loving Nigerians the embarrassment.
