WATCH: Remo Stars player kicks penalty to throw-in ‘in protest of bad officiating’
A video has surfaced on social media in which a player of Remo Stars FC appeared to have deliberately missed his kick in the penalty shootout of the Ogun state FA Cup final against Ijebu United.
A source close to the team told TheCable that other players did the same and that the wayward kicks were “in protest of bad officiating from the centre referee.”
In the video, obtained from a now-deleted live stream on Remo Stars’ Youtube page, the goalkeeper of the Ikene-based team stood rooted to a spot as a player of United rolled his penalty kick into the net.
It also shows a Remo Stars player awkwardly directing his penalty kick away from the goal post and towards the throw-in line.
If this isn’t Match Fixing, then I don’t know what it is.
Why is Nigerian football like this? Why don’t we ever want progress??
This is Ogun State FA Cup final between Remo Stars and Ijebu United 💔💔
Advertisement— Ibukun Aluko (@IbkSports) July 14, 2022
United then went to win the game 3-0 on penalties after regular time had ended goalless.
The video has been generating a wave of reactions since it surfaced on social media with many football fans condemning the wayward displays as “match-fixing.”
However, a source close to the team dismissed the “match-fixing” claims, adding that the players deliberately lost the shootout to show their grievances at the officiating of the referee.
“Remo Stars were so pissed with the officiating throughout the match that it took a while for them to emerge for the penalty shootout. They only emerge to avoid sanction and then decided to show their grievances by throwing the game,” the source said.
All attempts to reach Ganiyu Majekodunmi, chairman of Ogun state football association — at the time of filing this report — have proved abortive.
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