Chairman of the Imo Football Association (FA), Mr Ifeanyi Dike, has described the resignation of a board member of the association, Mr Ndubuisi Opara as gross insubordination to football ethics.
Dike, a lawyer, said this while reacting to Opara’s resignation, in an interaction with newsmen in Owerri, on Monday.
Www.Silvernews.com.ng reports that Opara, on Saturday, April 6, resigned from his position as Imo FA Executive Board Member after over 12 years on the job.
Opara, who is the current Chairman of the Youths Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) in Imo and ex- flying eagles player, said that his decision to resign was as a result of the inability of the state owned Heartland Football Club’s to qualify to represent Imo in the next FA competition at the national level.
Dike however chided Opara for his “uninformed decision “ adding that it held no water as it was not the first time Heartland FC would fail to qualify to represent Imo at the FA competition.
He noted that Opara “currently serves a suspension from the Imo FA Board for gross misconduct and has already tendered a written apology and plea for recall to the board.”
He wondered why Opara would choose to resign only days to the state’s FA congress where a final decision would be taken to ascertain whether he would be recalled to or expelled from the board.
He urged Opara to, in consideration of his many years of experience and respect for the rules of the FA and the ethics of football, desist from using Heartland FC as an easy excuse for his decision.
“To allege that the Imo FA did not do enough to aid Heartland’s qualification to the FA competition is not just a lie, but a failed attempt at blackmail and public dislike targeted at the association.
“Opara’s resignation has nothing to do with Heartland FC’s non qualification for the FA as it is not the first time the club have failed to qualify and Opara never resigned in solidarity on previous occasions “, Dike said.
He urged the public to disregard the excuses as they were “ inconsequential and lacking in merit”.
Silvernews however reports that Heartland FC failed to qualify for the FA, with Ikukoma FC of Mbaise having the day after a competitive fixture that culminated in a penalty shootout that saw the latter win 4 – 3.
