Yewa FC begins final promotion push after surviving NLO playoff controversy

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Barely one week after emerging from one of the most controversial fixtures in this year’s Nationwide League One (NLO) playoffs, Yewa FC Academy will begin another decisive chapter in its quest for promotion to the Nigeria National League (NNL).

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The Ogun State based-club has been drawn alongside Ijebu United FC, Adeyemi FC and Dokkal Khairu FC in the South-West 2 Promotional Playoffs scheduled for 10 to 14 July at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti.

Yewa will open its campaign against Ijebu United on 10 July before taking on Adeyemi FC two days later. The club will conclude the round-robin series against Dokkal Khairu FC on 14 July, with only the group winner expected to secure promotion to the second-tier Nigeria National League.

The fixtures offer Yewa another opportunity to focus on football after the past week was dominated by boardroom disputes and disciplinary proceedings that threatened to derail the club’s promotion ambitions.

The club only reached this stage after defeating FC Ebedei 1-0 in the rescheduled conclusion of their controversial playoff fixture, bringing an end to one of the most contentious episodes in Nigerian grassroots football this season.

Hadi Abdulsalam scored the all-important goal in the game that was concluded at the Maracanna Stadium on Wednesday.

The original encounter at the Akure Township Stadium had been abandoned after Yewa goalkeeper Olalere Ridwan suffered a serious injury following a collision late in the first half.

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While the goalkeeper received emergency medical attention, FC Ebedei players left the pitch and did not return, prompting the referee to call off the match after observing the mandatory waiting period.

What appeared initially to be a straightforward disciplinary matter quickly developed into a wider dispute over the interpretation of the NLO regulations.

Yewa insisted that the match should have been awarded in its favour under Rule 4.12 of the competition regulations, arguing that FC Ebedei abandoned the fixture without any directive from the referee or match commissioner.

Chairman of Yewa Football Academy, Mojeed Ibrahim, maintained throughout the controversy that the injury itself was never the reason the match could not continue.

“A football match cannot end because one side decides it is over,” he told PREMIUM TIMES, insisting that his club remained on the field and was ready to continue after a replacement goalkeeper had been cleared.

The NLO, however, declined to award the match immediately.

Instead, the league ordered that the remaining minutes be replayed before later suspending the rescheduled fixture after announcing that it had uncovered what it described as “critical discrepancies and compromises” in the reports submitted by the match officials.

The league subsequently queried the centre referee and match commissioner over the alleged unauthorised disclosure of confidential match reports and allegedly referred the matter to its Integrity Unit and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Disciplinary Committee for further investigation.

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The match eventually played on Wednesday with Yewa emerging victorious; securing a narrow 1-0 victory over FC Ebedei to progress to the final promotional playoffs.

The victory represented more than qualification.

For the club, it was vindication after weeks of uncertainty during which it challenged the league’s handling of the abandoned fixture while also responding to separate investigations over alleged access to confidential match reports and player eligibility issues.

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Attention now shifts back to football.

The South-West 2 playoffs present another stern examination, with every team entering the competition knowing that only one promotion ticket is available.

Yewa’s opening fixture against Ijebu United could prove crucial in setting the tone for the mini-league before successive matches against Adeyemi FC and Dokkal Khairu FC determine whether the club completes its remarkable journey from controversy to promotion.