Member of Sporting Lagos’ Governing Council, Fola Olatunji-David, has called on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Nigeria National League (NNL) to look into the quality of officiating in matches following the controversial sending off of a player.
A Sporting Lagos player received his marching orders after scoring a goal which ended up being disallowed in an NNL match against Gateway United at the Otunba Dipo Dina Stadium in Ijebu-Ode on Saturday.
On as a substitute in the 70th minute, Seun had the ball in the back of the net twice in 11 minutes after coming off the bench, only to get a yellow card both times for shooting the ball after the whistle had been blown – with both goals getting chalked off.
“One of our players was shown two yellow cards for scoring two separate goals that were deemed offside,” Olatunji-David stated after the match. “The first goal was scored, then whistle came and yellow card. The second goal, whistle came while shot was in motion. Neither goals were offside.”
He added, “I have never seen a player carded for scoring a goal BEFORE the whistle was blown. This is after the referee had awarded the home site Gateway United a penalty for a non existent foul to level the game at 1-1.”
Sporting Lagos would go on to lose 2-1 against Gateway United, with the club’s executive stating that a formal complaint will be filed with the league, adding that the NNL should do better to protect honest investors in the league.
“People should be out of jobs and some people in jail for what is going on in Nigerian Football. We will file our formal complaint, but we cannot continue like this,” he said. “When you look away when teams get desperate and start bribing referees against other teams, you are not helping anyone.”