The third edition of the Sigma Chief’s League was ushered in by a press conference meant to “provide an opportunity to learn about the Sigma Chief’s League”. The press conference which was held on 8th November, 2024 did achieve its primary objective but it was not without an obvious anomaly. A press kit, whose sole use is to provide an overview of an individual, organization or event to the media and other stakeholders, was conspicuously missing from the press conference. A campus journalist who had walked late into the SRC chamber for the conference had drawn the attention of the organizers to the obvious anomaly and called for change in subsequent editions.
In spite of the episode of November 8th, 2024, the Sigma Chief’s League kicked off ten days later with male fixtures played at the SUB football pitch main bowl. The lack of professionalism and preparedness that the competition’s press conference portrayed was however only a sneak peek into what was going to unfold during the course of its third edition.
Double Standards and an Ineffective Screening Process
Unlike the recently concluded Seals cup 2024 and Super Cup football tournaments, the Sigma Chief’s League competition was without an official rule book. This reporter had, a few days before the commencement of the Sigma Chief’s League, reached out to the erstwhile chairman of the planning committee (erstwhile because he stopped functioning in that capacity after the arbitrary disqualification of Da-ebs FC and was subsequently screened out from sigma club), requesting for a copy of the competition’s rule book. Afolabi Gideon in his capacity as organizing committee chairman went on to confirm the unavailability of an official rule book, giving assurances that “it will soon be ready”. In reality, the official rule book was never ready even until this day.
Although the Sigma Chief’s League organizers failed to put together an official rule book for the competition, they did provide an official “terms and condition.” This one page letter-headed document was exclusively sent to team owners, coaches and captains a day before the commencement of the Sigma Chief’s League. In lieu of the official rule book, the “terms and conditions,” made available on the eve of the competition’s kick off, featured unclear punishments for teams who default on the eligibility criteria and other general rules. As clearly stated in item 8 of this letter headed document, the eligibility criteria for players was a “regular student” status evidenced by a proof of identification.
During the registration phase for the competition, participants were intimated with the “participation guidelines and registrations for sigma chief’s cup teams” via the official sigma chief’s league registration portal. Under the eligibility criteria, sigma chief’s league noted that; “only registered students of the University of Ibadan are eligible to participate.” Just like the “terms and conditions”, the “participation guidelines and regulations” requested a valid student identification card as proof of identity but failed to clearly state the penalty for defaulting these rules and guidelines.
As earlier mentioned, a press conference for the sigma chief’s league was held on November 8th, 2024 at the Students’ Representative Council Chamber. At this press conference, UCJ gathered that eligibility is for registered students of the University of Ibadan, agreeing with the eligibility criteria displayed on the official registration portal, but conflicting with the “regular student” criteria stated in the competition’s “terms and conditions”. Whether regular students and registered students meant the same thing was never clarified by the organizers, giving rise to a subtle case of double standards on their part. Similarly, the organizing committee chairman announced that registration for the competition will be followed by a screening process to verify that every team meets the tournament’s requirements. Albeit, the subsequent arbitrary disqualification of DA-Ebs FC on the grounds that they fielded ineligible players only meant that the organizing committee had not effectively “screened” the participating teams as promised at the press conference. Since every player was mandated to provide proof of studentship, an ineligible player should have been disqualified during the screening process.
Grey Areas and Ultra Vires
The third edition of the Sigma Chief’s league kicked off on December 18th, 2024 with Soccer For All locking horns against Nazi boys FC. Two games after, in what was the last game of the day, Achievers FC squared up against Da-Ebs FC with the latter running out 2-0 winners. However, owing to allegations of fielding “ineligible” players, the organizing committee disqualified Da-Ebs FC. This disqualification and the subsequent imposement of a one-thousand naira fine came as a direct result of grey areas within the competition’s rules. The inconsistency with the eligibility criteria, absence of a clearly stated punishment for defaulters as well as an overwhelming ambiguity in the meaning of key eligibility terms only meant that the sigma chief’s league organizing committee were bound to deliver an arbitrary judgement on cases relating to eligibility.
“Regular students” as indicated in the Participation Guidelines and Regulations for Sigma Chief’s Cup teams.” has widely recognised definitions. Per Law Insider Dictionary, a regular student is one who is studying in a full time program running in the University in the respective academic year. Similarly, dictionary university defines “regular students” as one who is enrolled or accepted for enrollment at an institution for the purpose of obtaining a degree, certificate or other recognized education credential offered by that institution.
In September 2024, the University of Ibadan Vice-Chancellor told journalists at the Distance Learning Centre, UI that there was no distinction between on-campus students and DLC students. This declaration by Prof. Adebowale implied that the University recognised both categories of students as registered and regular students.
Despite the widely acclaimed definitions of these terms and the Vice-Chancellor’s declaration, it is still a known fact that those terms can still be subjective while the definition of the eligibility criteria for the competition remains at the discretion of organizers. However, the lack of clear definitions gave room for grey areas and ultra vires, as a result.
Following their disqualification, Da-Ebs FC sent in a petition appeal against the decision. In the wake of this, this reporter gathered that Da-Ebs FC’s petition was deleted by the head of the organizing committee while the owner of Da-Ebs FC, Adegoke Umar was subsequently removed from the official “Team Owners, Coaches and Captains” group. On December 19th, 2024 via an “immediate release,” the organizers overturned the disqualification of Da-Ebs FC subject to their payment of a one-thousand naira fine. The decision to fine Da-Ebs FC was one done without sufficient legal authorization as the competition’s “terms and conditions” nor “Guidelines and Participation Rules” did not substantiate it.
Playing Fast and Loose
Da-Ebs FC’s first petition sent on the night of their disqualification was immediately deleted by Afolabi Gideon. This petition, which was a formal objection to the organizing committee’s arbitrary decision, was met by an organizingll chairman who was not ready to listen to any appeal. Adegoke Umar was subsequently removed from the whatsapp group for dissent. Umar’s removal took a paradoxical stance against the competition’s claims to “promote fairness and sportsmanship.”
Following his removal from the group, Umar contacted the Sigma Chief as he sought to overturn Afolabi Gideon’s earlier decision. The Sigma Chief promised to weigh in on the matter and get back to him shortly. Days later, this reporter gathered from a reliable source that Afolabi Gideon had been removed as Organizing Committee Chairman. Gideon himself confirmed that he was no longer chairman via a virtual conversation, few days later
Unsatisfied with the content of the immediate release sent out after the Sigma Chief’s intervention, Da-Ebs FC filed another petition, reaffirming their stance while also demanding the overturn of their arbitrary disqualification. “We are disheartened by the actions taken after we submitted our first petition. Removing Da-Ebs FC representatives from the Club Owners, Coaches and Captains group demonstrates a disturbing lack of respect for our freedom to express concerns’” the concluding part of their petition read in parts.
The series of events right from the press conference up until the arbitrary disqualification of Da-Ebs FC played a huge role in undermining the integrity of the Sigma Chief’s League. Da-Ebs, who were eventually allowed to proceed into the next round, crashed out in the quarter final round. The removal of Afolabi Gideon as Chairman, inadvertently affected the organization of the competition as kick-offs were often delayed due to the late arrival of match-day officials. As a result, male teams were made to play for as little as forty-minutes, instead of the official sixty-minute game duration.
Afolabi Gideon and Prince Ogbonna, among other members of the Sigma Chief’s League, were subsequently screened out from the club following a fallout with the Sigma Chief. This reporter was unable to independently verify if the dismissal of these committee members was linked to their actions and inactions during the Sigma Chief’s League. However the eligibility inconsistencies and professional misconduct, among other issues witnessed during the competition’s third edition came as a result of their own shortcomings.
