The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has banned Nigerian referee Joseph Ogabor for a year for “attempted match manipulation”.
Caf says the incident concerned a Confederation Cup match between Nigeria’s Plateau United and USM Alger of Algeria’s on 7 April in Lagos.
“The decision follows investigations conducted and evidence submitted by the South African match officials of the said match, who were contacted by Ogabor to provide “technical assistance” to the Nigerian team,” a Caf statement read.
Plateau United were also “cautioned to refrain from the practice of hospitality gifts which tend to create wrong impression.”
“In a related development, the South African Football Association have been ordered to render an apology to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after investigations proved there was no evidence of whatsoever of any official of the NFF regarding an allegation of US$30,000 bribe,” the statement concluded.
