African football governing body, CAF, has confirmed the suspension of Nigerian match official, Joseph Ogabor, for ‘attempted’ match fixing, the body has confirmed.
Ogabor has been banned for one year for after he was found guilty of of attempting to manipulate the game between NPFL champions, Plateau United and Algerian outfit, USM Alger, in the CAF Confederation Cup first leg.
According to CAF, the decision to ban the match official was reached following the recommendations it received from its Disciplinary Board via the body’s Referees’ Committee on April 28.
“The decision [to ban Ogabor] 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 statement on CAF’s official website read.
Meanwhile, Plateau United were warned to stop giving “hospitality gifts” and avoid other practices that may indicate trying to induce officials.
South Africa Football Association, SAFA, were also asked to apologise to their Nigerian counterparts, the NFF, following allegations of US$30,000 bribe, after investigations absolved the NFF of any wrongdoing.
Plateau have since crashed out of the competition, following their 5-2 aggregate loss to their Algerian counterparts, USM in the playoffs.
