Onazi linked with fresh match-fixing scandal

The dust is yet to settle on the match-fixing allegation that took the shine off Super Eagles’ friendly match with Scotland last Wednesday, but a fresh one, this time involving a Nigerian football agent, is in the news.

Henry Chukwuma Okoroji, a Nigerian football agent, has been caught on camera suggesting he could arrange a yellow card during a World Cup game for more than £41,000 and a penalty for £81,000.

Okoroji, alongside his associate simply identified as Joe, was caught in Italy telling an undercover reporter that they could fix games and organise certain outcomes during the tournament in Brazil this month.

In an attempt to enhance their credibility, Okoroji and Joe invited Lazio and Super Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi, who seems not to have been involved in any fixing plot, to the meeting.

Speaking to The Sun’s undercover reporter, Mazher Mahmood, Okoroji said he had already recruited two Nigerian players for this summer’s tournament and was planning to fly to Brazil to oversee his scams during the tournament.

“Hundred per cent, two players. It’s left up to you people what you want to do. You will pay for a yellow or a red card or a penalty,” Okoroji said.

After making the offer, Okoroji rang a prominent Nigerian player and claimed he had agreed to take part in the fix.

“The player cannot come because of his career, which is true. These things you cannot speak on the phone because they are monitoring, all agents, are monitoring his calls,” he said.

Okoroji claimed he was a professional footballer and got into match-fixing after he was approached as a player. During the conversation with the paper, he also said he could speak to a senior figure in the Nigerian Football Federation to influence squad selection for the forthcoming tournament.

This is not the first time a Nigerian will fall prey to undercover reporters investigating corruption in the sport.

British newspaper, the Sunday Times, posing as lobbyists for a consortium of American companies that wanted to help bring the World Cup back to the United States, filmed Amos Adamu asking for £500,000 to fund the construction of four artificial football pitches in Nigeria in order to influence the voting procedure with his vote for the 2018 FIFA World Cup bid.

Ex-Nigeria international, Sam Sodje, also claimed he got himself sent off during a match between Oldham Athletic and Portsmouth last year after he punched a rival player in the groin twice.

Sodje, who was instantly red-carded while playing for Pompey in the League One clash, claimed in the secret recording he was fined £10,000, but pocketed £70,000.