The dismissal of Coach Tunde Sanni may not be the end of Kwara United’s troubles.
Instead, it appears to have peeled back layers of mismanagement and administrative lapses that have dogged the club for years — prompting growing calls from fans for a shake-up at the top.
Findings reveal that Sanni, who was sacked less than an hour after United’s 1–0 home loss to Abia Warriors in Ilorin, had no formal contract with the club throughout his nearly two-year spell — a glaring breach of professional standards for a Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) side.
Multiple sources within the club, the Kwara State Sports Commission (KWSC), and among local sports journalists confirmed that the Challenge Cup–winning coach worked on verbal terms only.
“Even his predecessor, Kabir Dogo, wasn’t given a contract until he left unceremoniously,” one club insider disclosed, describing the trend as “systemic and reckless.”
This pattern of informality has raised serious questions about governance at the Ilorin-based team, where accountability and due process appear to have eroded over time.
“Two coaches in a row and no contract papers for them to sign? That is deeply suspicious,” another KWSC source said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
The club’s management, through its media office, framed Sanni’s departure as a “mutual agreement to part ways.” But few are convinced.
“Sanni is only a scapegoat,” fumed one supporter on the club’s fans’ WhatsApp group. “The rot is deeper. Heads must roll in management too.”
Their anger reflects a broader sentiment that the real problems lie not on the pitch but in the boardroom — from chaotic administrative practices to opaque decision-making and weak institutional oversight.
The loss to Abia Warriors — described by fans as “a game of continental losers,” since both teams had crashed out of the CAF Confederation Cup preliminaries — was merely the final straw.
Insiders say the club’s internal disarray, poor welfare structure, and leadership vacuum have long undermined performance.
KWSC, the state government agency that supervises the club and serves as its financial conduit, is also under scrutiny for what many describe as “looking the other way” amid repeated breaches of professional protocol.
Efforts to reach the Commission’s Executive Chairman for comment were unsuccessful as of press time.
Meanwhile, as disillusioned fans vent online and at viewing centers across Ilorin, the focus has shifted from the dugout to the directors’ table.
For many, firing Coach Sanni without addressing the rot in management is “like changing drivers in a faulty car.”
Until Kwara United reforms its management culture and restores transparency at the top, fans insist, no coach — contract or not — can steer the club out of mediocrity.