Lobi Stars have confirmed they filed a protest to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) against Wydad Casablanca alleging there was an attempt to influence the result of their CAF Champions League Group A tie against the Moroccan team last Tuesday.
The match ended in a 0-0 draw in Rabat, but the team Coach Solomon Ogbeide said in a post-match conference that someone approached his boys and offered them money to through the game away, a claim that has been backed by the Club’s spokesman Emmanuel Ujah who revealed that the Nigerian club had sent a protest letter to CAF through the match commissioner and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have also been informed.
“An Ivorian, who claimed to be a friend of Wydad’s President approached one of our players to influence the match,” Ujah alleged.
“He promised to pay $5,000, urging our player to reach out to three other teammates; the central defenders and goalkeeper, to assist in ensuring victory for his client.
“’We have him on tape and his picture, as he was determined to achieve his objective. However, he failed as our player rebuffed him.”
Wydad Casablanca already denied the allegations and urged Lobi Stars to come forward with substantial evidence.
Lobi Stars are bottom of Group A with four points from four matches, while Wydad are behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa with seven points, Asec Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire are third thanks to better head to head record against Lobi.
