Five years after footballer Chineme Martins collapsed and died during a Nigerian league match, justice has finally arrived — and the verdict is damning.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria has declared Nasarawa United, the match commissioner, the Nigerian league body, and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) negligent in the events that led to the 25-year-old’s tragic death in March 2020.
According to a statement released by world players’ union FIFPRO on Thursday, the court found the actions — or lack thereof — surrounding Martins’ medical care and safety protocols not only insufficient, but “reprehensible.”
“The court has spoken and ruled that Nasarawa United, the league management company and the NFF did not take into consideration my brother’s safety, health and welfare which contributed to his death,” Martins’ brother Michael Martins said after the ruling.
“I hope that the appropriate medical provisions are put in place for Nigeria’s footballers going forward, so that no family has to endure the pain we have suffered.”
A Preventable Death
Footballer Martins died after collapsing during a league match at Lafia Township Stadium. Disturbingly, a report published on the NFF’s own website later that year confirmed that no ambulance, no team doctor, and no physiotherapist were present at the stadium — critical oversights that likely proved fatal.
Worse still, the court found that Martins had not undergone mandatory echocardiogram tests at the start of any of his three seasons with Nasarawa United — a medical screening that is standard in most professional leagues worldwide.
The ruling described the club and league’s failure to ensure these tests as part of a “gross failure in duty of care.”
Compensation Ordered
The court has now ordered financial compensation to be paid to Martins’ family — a move that, while welcomed, comes too late to save the young life lost.
The lawsuit was brought forward with the help of FIFPRO lawyers, who assisted the Martins family in pursuing the claim of negligence.
