Super Eagles ex-international and Heartland's general manager has been punished by the league organisers for bringing the game to disrepute.

FC Taraba general manager, Tijani Babangida, coach Ladan Bosso and Heartland’s Okechukwu Ibeh have been fined by the League Management Company for breaching the code of conduct for club officials under the Nigerian Premier Fooball League (NPFL) rules.

The trio was cited for inflammatory comments against referees considered capable of casting the league in bad light. Their actions are in dissonance with Article 14 of the Code of Conduct for Coaches and managers and Article C1 of the framework and rules of the Nigeria Professional Football League.

Bosso’s charge is in relation to comments he made to the media against the referee after the Week 12 fixture between Rangers and Abia Warriors where the LMC claimed “he failed to act in an ethical and professional manner, in the best interest of the game, and that he made statements capable of bringing the game to disrepute.”

Babangida and Bosso have been fined N50, 000 while Ibeh was slammed with a fine of N200, 000. They are expected to comply by paying the sum within 48 hours or risk the inevitable consequence of defending themselves before the body.

The LMC also relayed cases of match officials to the Nigeria Football Federation Referees Appointment Committee requesting that they should be dropped from officiating professional football league games pending the assessment of their performance in some matches.

The erring referees include  Mohammed Sule, Suleiman Jimeta, Garba Musa, Jerry Akure, Maaji Mohammed, Abbas J, Alfa Gimba, Sam Agba, Aliyu Jingi and Sani Mohammed