The preponderance revelations and accusations as regards match fixing in Nigerian League reverberated in the last two weeks as has never been heard before. From Makurdi to Ibadan, it was one accusation or the other but those who alleged could not substantiate and ended up being sanctioned. Match fixing is always difficult to prove especially in a country like Nigeria where truth is scarce to come by.
No doubt, match fixing is the greatest threat to football in the world and Nigerians can take anything to the extreme. They will not mind the consequences provided it gives them money. They are ready to destroy or kill the game and with the level of our economy, we must nip in the bud anything that will destroy the only thing that brings joy to the teeming populace.
Match fixing can be described as the action or practice of dishonestly determined the actions of a match before it is played. It is also considered as irregularly influencing the course or results of a sports event in order to obtain advantage for oneself or for others.
Signs of a fixed football match can include irregular betting patterns, unusual player behaviour, questionable referee decisions and odd in a game occurrence. It is crucial to watch for these indicators to identify potentially manipulated games. It goes beyond just making allegations as done by the Media Officer of Lobi Stars, Emmanuel Ukah and a Yoruba Sports presenter in Ibadan, Shola Ayegbajeje.
Several Federations have employed services that provide such systems for detecting match manipulations. For Emmanuel Ujah who could not support his allegations of match fixing, he has been banned from attending any football related activities indefinitely while Shola Ayegbajeje with Prince 89.7 FM, Ibadan is to stay away from all football related activities and should keep off from all stadia in Oyo State till the end of the season. He had alleged that Shooting Stars management and players were involved in match fixing in their previous NPFL matches against Katsina United, Lobi Stars and Remo Stars. Unfortunately for him, he could not back up his allegations with concrete evidence.
However, a former FIFA badge referee, Calistus Chukwujekwu has come out with a startling verdict that match fixing is already deep rooted in Nigeria. Although, Chukwujekwu stopped short of mentioning anyone specifically, but added that even referees play dirty roles in the search for extra money through illegal actions during matches. The former FIFA badged referee who is now an Assessor and Instructor at both continental and global levels said match fixing makes all efforts in our game come to nothing.
He further said drastic measures are needed urgently to stem the tide of what he alleged is a rapidly growing misnomer in the country.
A number of clubs in countries across the world have been subject of match fixing, including Australia, China and Spain. The South African National team have also been investigated. Two weeks ago, FIFA relegated Kenyan Football Club, Muhoroni Youth from the second tier National Super League after finding the team guilty of match fixing. The Club senior team has also been expelled from the National Super League and demoted to the third tier division one league with effect from next season.
In view of this, the Nigeria Football Federation should not fold their hands, rather should swing into action by coming out with serious actions or programs that will help in stopping match fixing in Nigeria.
First and foremost, they must promote and preach integrity through dedicated education and provide training programs to raise awareness of potential threats. Also, come out with methodology that could effectively identify, investigate punish whoever that is link with match fixing. Fixing a match, stakeholders must be told goes against the rule of football and is illegal. They must be told that fixing a match could result in serious consequences including a life time ban and possibly a criminal sanctions. Whatever the reasons, stakeholders should not seek to fix any aspect of a match.
Sponsors on the other will not want to hear anything of such. They want sports that is competitive, hard fought and full of real spills and thrills. Commercial partners are very aware of the value of their brands and when they align themselves with a sport, they are usually doing it because they want to target a new demographic or market places. The last thing they want is to be associated with a tarnished competition.
Supporters will also be turned off if they feel that what they watch is not genuine.
All hands therefore must be on deck to kill match fixing if not, it will kill Nigerian football
