Nigeria Chief Coach Caught On Camera Taking Bribe From Football Agents

Nigeria chief coach Salisu Yusuf has been caught on camera accepting bribe from undercover journalists posing as football agents. 

The secret recording was captured by Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and handed to BBC News Africa, it was shot in September 2017 and showed Yusuf receiving bribe to ensure two players are named on the roster for the 2018 African Nations Championship held in Morocco.

The video showed Yusuf, who is paid N3 million monthly by the Nigerian Federation, taking $1,000 from undercover reporters, who eluded to other financial incentives after the coach had taken the money.

''So if anything goes through and these players are able to get their contracts, you will get 15% of that contract,'' one of the undercover reporters told Yusuf and he replied; ''they will be in CHAN''.

According to the Fifa code of ethics, officials should not engage in any activity that gives rise to suspicion or collect any cash gifts.

The two players were eventually selected for the African Nations Championship but no further money was requested or given to Salisu Yusuf and there's no further suggestion that the bribe he took influenced the selection of the players.

In the video, Yusuf said : ''You know in football it is supposed to be by your consistency and form''.

In a statement issued to the BBC, the Super Eagles coach denied any wrongdoing and said he neither promised nor committed to selecting players for games, adding that he never asked the undercover journalists for money but it was offered to him and the amount was $750, not the $1,000 Anas claims.

Yusuf also stated that he believes the money falls within the gifts the Fifa codes allow for, viewing it as of trivial and symbolic value and not as an inducement to select the two players represented by the two agents.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel