Nigeria Indicted In Match Fixing Scandals.

Henry Chukwuma Okoroji, a Nigerian match fixer has been indicted in a match fixing scam after he was caught on camera telling an undercover UK Sun Newspaper reporter, Mahzher Mahmood, he could arrange a yellow card during the World Cup games for more than 41,000pounds and a penalty for 81,000pounds.

Mr Okoroji  reportedly  spoke with the  reporter in company of his associate, Joe, in a hotel room in Milan, Italy.

 He was recorded saying he could facilitate different outcomes on the football field, including a red card, depending on the amount the reporter was willing to pay. He was reported to have said that he was working with two other Nigerian players as well as a senior official of the Nigerian Football Federation in the match-fixing scam, who he said could help influence the Nigerian squad in the world cup. 

In a bid to prove his credibility, Okoroji was said to have invited a Nigerian/Lazio footballer, Ogenyi Onazi to the hotel but Onazi is not thought to be involved in the plot.

Also The New York Times said South African officials allowed a notorious Singaporean syndicate, Football 4U, to pick the referee for that match.

Fixing games has serious profit implications for Asia’s largely unregulated but lucrative betting market.

Most fixed bets are placed on which team will win against the spread and on the total number of expected goals. By some estimates, the illegal betting market in Asia amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars annually, the report said.

Quoting from FIFA investigative report, the New York Times said FIFA investigators found that the referee in the Nigeria-North Korea match made several questionable calls. But investigators could not confirm whether the referee was a rogue Nigerien referee, Ibrahim Chaibou.

The investigators said they were however certain that the referee who officiated was not the Portuguese who had been assigned.

Such replacements are part of the trick, and do happen in fixed games presumably without FIFA’s knowledge.

The referee took “a very harsh stance” in giving a red card for a seemingly lesser infraction, and he later took “a very liberal stance” in awarding a suspicious penalty kick, the report was quoted by the New York Times as saying.

Mr. Chaibou had his hands soiled in many other matches adjudged to have been fixed including the South Africa Vs Guatemala game in which South Africa won 5-0. The referee was said to have received $60, 000 for his role.

It was also Mr. Chaibou who officiated the Nigeria – Argentina friendly in Abuja, also adjudged to have been fixed as the Eagles triumphed 4-1.

It is not clear what role Nigerian officials played in fixing the North Korea match.

But in recent months, Nigeria has been mentioned as a beneficiary of fixed matches.

One notorious Singaporean gambler cum match fixer, Wilson Raj Pemural, said in a personal memoir published this year that he aided the Super Eagles qualify for the South Africa 2010 Mundial.

Mr. Pemural played significant role in all of the Times findings.

Even Nigeria’s friendly with Scotland last week which ended in a two goal draw is under investigation for suspected fixing.