Match fixing: Akpokona wants NFF to punish all guilty parties

Veteran coach, Lawrence Akpokona has called on the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF not to spare any footballer, referee and administrator who contrived the scandalous 146 goals scored by teams seeking promotion from the Nationwide league division 4.

[caption id="attachment_403251" align="alignright" width="312"] Action recorded during a Nigerian league match[/caption]

Football fans world over were greeted with the news of Plateau United Feeders scoring a whopping 79 goals to overcome Akurba FC of Nasarawa, while the Police Machine FC, Abuja  “crushed” Babayaro FC of Gombe 67-0.

“The NFF should be serious about it all, the players involved in this scandal should be disciplined. For me, I will recommend ban for them. The referees should not go near any football pitch again in their lives, everybody involved in those matches should be dealt with it.

You can imagine how people will look at us, it is scandalous. For me it portrays our football in a very bad light.

“There are people who are working assiduously day and night to take our football to the next level others are dragging football into the mud.

“For me I think the disciplinary committee of the NFF should stop at nothing take drastic decisions to serve as a deterrent to others in the future.”

Meanwhile the Nasarawa Football Association (FA) has inaugurated a four-man committee to investigate the scandalous scoreline involving its affiliate team Akurba FC and Plateau United Feeders.

Alikali Mohammed, Chairman of Nasarawa FA, said that  he appreciated the decision of the NFA to suspend the four clubs, adding that any act that would tarnish the image of Nigerian football should not be tolerated.

“On our part at the state level, I have inaugurated a four-man committee that will investigate what happened.

“The committee will determine who was there at the scene to participate in this act that could to tarnish the image of football in the country,” he said.