Organizers say the academy’s decision to hand out its own medals moments after the official ceremony crossed a line they won’t tolerate again.
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The Benin City Youth League has slapped a ₦100,000 fine on Dynamo Academica Football Academy after the club staged an unauthorised award presentation for its own players immediately following the league’s official closing ceremony.
League organizers say Dynamo Academica moved onto the same podium used for the official presentation and began handing out its own club awards within the tournament venue, a move they’ve described as disrespectful to the competition, its sponsors, match officials and every other stakeholder involved in running the event.
Organizers stressed that award ceremonies at organized competitions are traditionally handled solely by the body running the tournament, with clubs expected to save their own recognitions for separate, private events rather than piggybacking on an official ceremony. They argued that letting the incident slide unaddressed could open the door for other clubs to do the same in future editions.
48-Hour Apology Deadline And Wider Warning
Beyond the fine, the League has given Dynamo Academica 48 hours to issue a formal written apology to its management and other stakeholders, warning that further disciplinary steps will follow if the academy fails to comply.
The League also used the incident to issue a blanket warning to all participating clubs, stating that no team may hand out independent awards, medals, trophies or cash gifts on any official venue or podium without prior written approval going forward. Organizers say any repeat breach, by Dynamo Academica or any other club, will draw tougher sanctions, including bigger fines or suspension from league activities.
The episode highlights the kind of administrative friction increasingly common in Nigeria’s grassroots football scene, where academies eager to celebrate their own players sometimes clash with the protocols set by tournament organizers.
📌 Did You Know?
- The Benin City Youth League is a grassroots competition that serves as a development pathway for young players in Edo State.
- Fines and written-apology demands are common disciplinary tools used by amateur and youth leagues across Nigeria to enforce conduct standards.
- Academy run youth leagues like this one often serve as early scouting grounds for Nigerian clubs and academies further up the football pyramid.
- Disputes over ceremony protocol are a recurring issue in grassroots football, where organizational structures are often less formalized than at senior level.
- Repeated rule breaches in youth competitions can lead to a club’s outright suspension from future editions of a league.
