EXCLUSIVE: Cash-strapped Adamawa United ‘stranded’ ahead of Kaduna clash

Less than 24 hours to Sunday’s Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) tie in Kaduna between Jigawa Golden Stars and Adamawa United, findings by PREMIUM TIMES suggest that the Adamawa team is ‘stranded’ in Bauchi State.

Multiple sources close to the team told PREMIUM TIMES the Yola-based club has been going through ‘hell’ in the past weeks and an embarrassing walkover on Sunday may finally reveal allegations of financial mismanagement and paucity of funds that hafe reportedly been rocking Adamawa United.

Rock bottom

Adamawa United are rock bottom on the NPFL table and are the only team yet to register any win after eight rounds of games in the new season. It now looks like the reasons for their misapplication in the league is not too far-fetched. The team is reportedly broke.

“We are in Bauchi stranded, our getting to Bauchi was even with the help of a kind-hearted individual who shouldered our accommodation and feeding for two days while we await our officials (Adamawa United) to bring in funds, up till now, there is no sign we are going for the match,” an official of the team told PREMIUM TIMES on the condition of anonymity on Saturday.

With a reported N12.8 million monthly allocation from the state government, players and officials of Adamawa United are at a loss why they have been subjected to inhumane treatment that has contributed in no small measure to their disappointing results in the league.

📷 Arrivals for #ADAPIL#NPFL21 pic.twitter.com/9jAyotZkvU

— League Management NG (@LMCNPFL) December 27, 2020

“The season started a bit well for the team, but after the first two games against Kano Pillars and Warri Wolves, the team has literally been playing on empty stomachs,” an insider told PREMIUM TIMES.

“Can you imagine that since they gave us N5,000 for feeding before the game against Rivers United last Sunday and what we have received since then is just another N2,500,” the source added.

“The players and officials have all been grumbling because we have been playing on empty stomachs, and this is unthinkable for a team that is getting an allocation of N12.8 million from the state government monthly.”

Genesis

While PREMIUM TIMES is yet to verify the claim, a source familiar with happenings at Adamawa United told PREMIUM TIMES that some officials of the state’s ministry of sports allegedly collected a N20 million loan from Adamawa Homes and Savings “and the stringent repayment condition is why the players, coaches and officials are without emoluments”.

“Throughout the COVID-19 period, we were not playing any games so you expect monies will have been saved at this period because just salaries were being paid but the Sports Ministry people went to collect N25 million loan from Adamawa Homes and Savings and shared between themselves, now any money that enters the club’s account, the loan company would collect their own first and that is killing us now.”

Meanwhile, attempts by PREMIUM TIMES to get a reaction from the Commissioner of Sports, Sanusi Farouk, were unsuccessful.

“Right now, I am not in Yola. I travelled and will be back on Monday by God’s grace,” the commissioner replied to PREMIUM TIMES’ request for his reaction.