ISL 2022-23: NorthEast United slams ‘unprofessional’ Sylvester Igboun after player leaves club

Igboun made his ISL debut as a substitute in the loss to East Bengal on October 20 before he left the club..

Sylvester Emeka Igbonu before the match against East Bengal. | Photo Credit: Vipin Pawar

Nigerian forward Sylvester Igboun has left Indian Super League club NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) after playing just one game this season.

The club released a statement on Friday that Igboun was ‘unprofessional’ during his short stay at the two-time ISL semifinalist. Igboun made his ISL debut as a substitute in the loss to East Bengal on October 20 before he left the club.

“The club would like to state on record that all requests made by the player, no matter how unreasonable, were met. Despite this the player’s behaviour was unbecoming and incredibly unprofessional. The club is saddened and feeling betrayed by the unprofessional behaviour of Sylvester Igboun. The club’s priority is, and always has been, the wellbeing of our players, and we reject the allegations that the club is not providing adequate facilities to our players,” NEUFC said.

Speaking on the matter, head coach Marco Balbul said, “Despite the numerous attempts by the management to make sure the player was comfortable, the player insisted on behaving in the most unprofessional way. This behaviour was on display even before he left unannounced as whilst he was at the club, he would frequently miss training sessions. This for me is an indication that the player never wanted to play. Currently the mood in the dressing room is excellent and all the players are incredibly motivated and supportive of each other. This incident has not affected the team’s morale, rather it has brought all of us closer together.”