Best Odds Center
best odds centre button
Click here!
Sport TV
watch live tv button
Click here!
to watch
Live FootBall
NPFL
Click here!
Live Scores
play watch Live Score button
Click here!

Refereeing Blunder Leaves Nigeria-Ghana Tie Unresolved

Posted : 11 October 2026

The first-leg encounter between Nigeria and Ghana in the 2026 CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers remains unresolved after match officials admitted an error in ordering extra time and penalties following a 3-3 draw in Kaduna.

Moroccan referee Driss Lamghaidar and his officiating team acknowledged their mistake at a meeting on Saturday night, confirming that the first-leg fixture should have ended after regulation time.

The confusion arose when the officials directed both teams to play extra time and subsequently take penalties, leaving dignitaries and spectators at the Murtala Muhammed Square Beach Soccer Pitch bewildered.

The officials later admitted that the tie should have remained level, with the return leg scheduled for Sunday, October 18, in Keta, Ghana.

The development means both teams will head into the decisive second leg with their qualification hopes intact, as the aggregate outcome remains to be determined.

Nigeria’s Isa Hamza Manga scored a hat-trick for the hosts, while Mawuli Sosu netted twice and Wise Nyamadi added a goal for Ghana’s Black Sharks.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) immediately sought clarification from the match officials over the decision to extend the contest beyond regulation time, given that only the first leg of the two-match fixture had been played.

The incident has brought the officiating of the qualifying tie into focus, with the outcome now resting on the return encounter in Ghana.

Among the dignitaries who watched the match were the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko; the NFF Acting General Secretary, Emmanuel Ikpeme; and the Kaduna State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Ben Kure.

Others included Special Assistants to the NSC Chairman, Musa Amadu and Clement Nwankpa; the NFF Acting Deputy General Secretary, Ademola Olajire; and the NSC Chairman’s Personal Assistant, Ahmad Muazu.

ADD A COMMENT :

Hot Topics

close button
Please fill captcha :