The General Manager of Kwara United Football Club, Bashir Badawiy has expressed surprise over the sanction and fine metted out to him by the Lagos State Football Association, after the 2025 President Federation Cup final in Lagos, which his club won.
Kwara United defeated Abakaliki FC 4-3 on penalties after playing out a goalless draw at regulation time, in the men’s final of the cup competition on Saturday June 28, 2025, at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos.
But in an official letter signed by the Lagos FA Secretary, Mrs.Vera-Hycient Okechukwu, the Lagos FA demanded Bashir Badawiy to pay a fine of N10million and also issue a letter of apology to the Lagos FA and copy the Nigeria football federation on or before Monday July 15, 2025.
The letter, which was copied the Secretary General of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the Kwara FA Chairman and the Chairman of Kwara United was titled: Summary Jurisdiction on the breach of security at the grand finale of the 2024/2025 President Federation Cup match between Kwara United and Abakaliki FC played at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena,Lagos on Saturday June 28, 2025.
“It was noticed that during the highly tensed final match between Abakaliki FC and Kwara United, the General Manager of eventual cup winners, Kwara United, Bashir Badawiy, breached the otherwise water-tight security arrangements and protocols as he made wild attempts to run and jubilate in front of the seated five state Governors at the VVIP sector of the stadium, thus endangering their lives and those of other seated top dignitaries and captains of industry.
“Consequently, and as a result of the unruly act of Bashir Badawiy, the board of the Lagos FA has therefore, taken the decision to summarily sanction and fine him”, the letter read in part.
Badawiy, in his reaction, called for the reversal of the fine and sanction, in the interest of the game.
“Ordinary, this is not a matter I should have reacted to, especially coming from the Lagos State Football Association, considering the fact that the competition mentioned is not a Lagos state affair, but a national event.
“I will have fully respected this call, if it had emanated from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), who are the owners of the competition.
“However, let me remind you that I am a football person, and I know and respect all football development protocols.
“Mentioning that I breached security during an important match as the final of the President Federation Cup is a big surprise to me. And also, attaching a fine makes it confusing.
It was a match owned and organised by the NFF, and the Secretary General of the body, as well as the President of the nation’s football controlling body were present at the final match, and they would have noticed if any security was breached at the final, and also, take up this assignment, not the Lagos FA.
“I don’t know when jubilation in football has become an offence that will attract a fine of as much as N10 million. That’s a funny call”, he concluded.
