The Vice-Chairman of Nasarawa State Football Association, Halidu Akwashiki, has apologized to sportswriters over the manner they were treated during Wednesday’s match between Nasarawa United and Warri Wolves.

Akwashiki in Lafia on Thursday assured that steps would be taken to forestall​ any recurrence of Wednesday’s incident.

The poor treatment of sportswriters at the Lafia Township Stadium on Wednesday had nearly overshadowed the 3-1 victory by hosts Nasarawa United Football Club over Warri Wolves.

“We will make arrangements to ensure that sportswriters are not maltreated, because even with the situation​ (of COVID-19) we are currently in, journalists are expected to go in and do their jobs.

“So, we will hold a meeting to know the number of sportswriters coming​ to cover matches and know what time they are supposed to go in to avoid all these clashes at the gate.

“By today (Thursday), we will discuss it at the office,” Akwashiki said.

Sportswriters who arrived at the Lafia Township Stadium to cover the 2020/2021 Nigeria​ Professional Football League (NPFL) Match Day 26 fixture were barred from entering the stadium.

Isa Mohammed, Chairman of the state chapter of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), who was among the media personnel barred from the stadium, condemned the treatment of journalists.

He said that the behavior of football authorities, especially the state Football Association, towards the media was not encouraging and needs to change for a good working relationship to exist.

“In spite of the fact that we bring ourselves here to perform our legitimate duties of giving coverage to the state-owned teams, yet they treat us badly.

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“This is not the first time my colleagues and I have been made to go through this shameful experience

“They won’t let us in. Whenever we try to go in to do our job, they use their security to chase us away as if we are touts. They treat us very poorly and have no regard for us and the work we do

“This is sad because this is a state where the governor is very media-friendly.

“They (football authorities) should know that when journalists are harassed and denied the freedom to perform their duties, it’s another story entirely,” Mohammed said.

He warned that if no effort was made by the state’s football authorities to provide sportswriters with a conducive working environment, they would have no other choice but to react accordingly.

”We can boycott all sports activities till action is taken,” the Nasarawa state SWAN chairman said.