Two referees have allegedly been nabbed by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged match manipulation
scandal after a second tier league match in Abuja, AOIFootball.com
reportedly said.
The match day 12 Nigeria National League game between FC Abuja and Kogi
United FC ended 1-1, but after the match, two referees were picked up by
the EFCC for alleged match manipulation.
The arrested referees are said to be from the Kogi State Football Association.
At half time during the game, the arrested referees entered the dressing
room to talk with the match-day officials about the game which ended in
1-1. The two men were later arrested.
The match day officials were Centre Referee: Katsina Daniel from Benue
State, Assistant Referee 1: Tyozer Thomas and Assistant Referee 2: Orgy
Blessing. All from Benue State.
It was also believed that there were records on the phones of the
arrested referees which showed they had been in contact with the match
day officials.
They were however later released, but their phones were confiscated and
they were asked to report at EFCC on Tuesday 30 for further
interrogation.
It would be recalled that the Nigeria Football Federation Integrity Unit
led by Dr Christian Emeruwa, has been on an aggressive campaign to
fight the menace of match-fixing by signing an MoU with security
operatives in Nigeria to deal with perpetrators.