By: Sunday Agunbiade (Mr VAR*)

Clarification has been made over incessant debt incurred by some management owing coaches and players. It's no longer news that some club managers sack their coaches and players half way without recourse to contractual agreement and most of them still walk freely on the streets believing that football matters are not adjudicated by conventional court. 

A board member who doubles as legal adviser to Enyimba FC of Aba, Prof. Collins Obioma Chijioke on Saturday (yesterday) in an online weekly interview session called Super  Interview held in the Nigeria's leading WhatsApp group, Sports World Platform, said while FIFA frowns at players taking clubs to conventional court, he said that the dotted line signed by coaches is employer and employee situation which is under the National Industrial court in Nigeria or adjudicated by as the case may be.

In his words:

"While FIFA careless about coaches contractual breach, it frowns at player taking clubs to a conventional court. This means that court has effects on the coaches handling NPFL clubs and other tiers which stipulates that incase of disputes involving a coach and the club, the coach can have a recourse by going to relevant arbitration within the frame work of the NFF or at the height of it ,he may proceed to industrial court for justice" The Abia State University teacher made the clarification on Sports World Platform during Super Interview session. 

He affirmed that, the frame work is not outside the jurisdiction of the court as it has failed in linking itself with FIFA rules and regulations. Prof. Obioma Collins opined and submitted that, the constitutional rights of having access to court is very much open to coaches, stressing that coaches going into national industrial court because the relationships between a coach and the club is basically of employer and employee relationship which has been the case of labour disputes.

"The constitutional rights of access to court is still very much open to coaches, and that's why you see coaches going to national industrial court . This is so the relationship between a coach and the club is basically that of employer, employee relationship and this being the case of a labour disputes" He submitted.