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The controversial shootout in Nigeria ended 3-0 to Ijebu United
A wacky penalty shoot out in the Ogun State FA Cup final in southwestern Nigeria sparked accusations of match-fixing this week.
After Remo Stars and Ijebu United both failed to find the net during their clash, the tie had to be settled from 12 yards out.
And while such a small regional clash would usually go unnoticed, the bizarre set of spot kicks that followed the full time whistle has since gone viral with over 7 million views.
For the first eyebrow-raising penalty, the goalkeeper stood rooted to the spot and seemed unwilling to even attempt a save.
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 💔💔
— Ibukun Aluko (@IbkSports) July 14, 2022
On the next kick, however, a Remo player smashed the ball as hard as he could towards the sidelines as though to concede a throw in had the penalty occurred in regular time.
Ijebu United eventually won 3-0 and took home the local trophy, but their exploits have not impressed many a social media onlooker that claimed foul play.
The sharer of the viral clip, Ibukun Aluko, was left dismayed by the proceedings and wrote: “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??” he asked alongside two broken heart emojis.
“They could have done it without making it so obvious,” another user balked.
😭😭😭 They could have done it without making it so obvious.
— 🔰 መላኩ ሃብቱ 🔰 (@Akilas_) July 14, 2022
“Just look what these gamblers that called themselves players have turned our local league into,” it was also said.
“Nah, this is insane! How do we expect to grow when sh*t like this happens,” someone else questioned.
“Everything in this country isn’t right, at least don’t make it look obvious,” was a piece of advice for the participants, as it was also pointed out that it is no wonder talented young Nigerians seek to go abroad to ply their trades.
Everything in this country isn’t right ,
at least don’t make it look obvious 😭😭— 💫 (@ayomide_szn) July 14, 2022
This is why most young Nigerian footballers don't want to play in the league. Everyone wants to play abroad
— IRUNNIA™ (@Irunnia_) July 14, 2022
Later on, however, Aluko had seemingly gotten to the bottom of the horror shootout and the explanation for it seemed a lot more reasonable than throwing the tie.
“I found out that Remo Stars players deliberately threw away their first three spot kicks and their goalkeeper also remained motionless when the opponents took theirs as a mark of protest for the unfair officiating in the game,” he revealed.
One punter that had been at the match didn’t agree with this, however.
“The officiating was very fair, I was in the stadium today. The officiating wasn’t biased at all,” he replied.
In a bid to obtain more information, Aluko also tweeted that he will be interviewing both clubs on his podcast in the near future.
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