FIFA probes Argentina’s thrashing in Nigeria

June 04, 2011 05:00 pm | Updated 05:00 pm IST - ZURICH

Nigeria's Uche Ikechukwu, right, celebrates with his brother Uche Kalu, left, after he scored a goal against Argentina during an international friendly match. Nigeria won 4-1. File photo

Nigeria's Uche Ikechukwu, right, celebrates with his brother Uche Kalu, left, after he scored a goal against Argentina during an international friendly match. Nigeria won 4-1. File photo

FIFA is investigating Argentina’s 4-1 loss in Nigeria after betting patterns suggested it was targeted by match fixers.

It’s the highest profile match yet in a wave of recent suspicious international friendlies.

FIFA says Wednesday’s match in Lagos “was one that we had an active interest in, and forms part of a wider ongoing FIFA investigation.”

Referee Ibrahim Chaibou of Niger awarded two penalties, including one scored by Argentina in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time.

Television replays suggested there was no handball offence by Nigeria as Chaibou indicated.

Hours before kick off, FIFA President Sepp Blatter launched his “Zero Tolerance” campaign to stop corruption in football.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.