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22nd Apr 2016

Nigerian league match to be officiated by dead referee

He died in January. No biggie.

Jordan Gold

He’ll still do better than Mike Dean…

The Nigeria Football Federation or NFF (we’re sure you’ve heard of it) is so riddled with bureaucracy that they’ve managed to appoint a dead referee for an upcoming match.

The late ref, Wale Akinsanya – who passed away during a mandatory FIFA Cooper Fitness Test for match officials in Ibadan – has still got the job despite being, well, dead.

via Friends/NBC

The BBC reports the absurd development unfolded as part of a leadership battle between Chris Giwa and Nigerian Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick.

Chris Giwa continues to challenge Nigerian Football Federation over the choice.