A match-fixing investigation has kicked off in Sierra Leone after two crucial football fixtures apparently ended with a total of 187 goals being scored between them.
The country’s football association is investigating officials and players involved in the two Premier League qualifiers held on Sunday, in which Kahunla Rangers beat Lumbebu United 95-0 and Gulf FC thrashed Koquima Lebanon 91-1.
Scores in the two matches stood at 2-0 and 7-1 respectively at half time, suggesting goals were scored at a rate of almost two every minute in the second hal.
Kahunla and Gulf FC were level on points going into their final round of matches and were fighting for the Eastern Region’s last place in the national Super 10 League, the final qualifying stage for the Premier League.
The two games were played simultaneously and with the team with the best goal difference going through, one theory is that the matches might have been fixed and then escalated into a competitive frenzy to outscore the other.
The BBC reported that the referee of Gulf FC’s match refused to officiate the second half, and had to be replaced — although the match apparently then continued.
“We can’t stand by and see an embarrassing situation like this go unpunished,” the president of Sierra Leone Football Association, Thomas Daddy Brima, told BBC Sport Africa. “All those found guilty will be dealt with in accordance with the SLFA laws, and will also be handed over to the country’s anti-corruption commission.”
The chief executive of Kahunla Rangers, Eric Kaitell, said: “I want to start by apologising to the football fans in the country and the world at large for the odd match result of my club.” He added that he “strongly condemned unsportsman-like behaviour”.
However, the general manager of the losing side, Lumbebu, insisted he was “not aware of any match manipulation” and that he had “at some point even left the touchline in anger” at the number of goals his team was conceding.
The chairman of Koquima Lebanon claimed that the match involving his side was actually a friendly while officials from Gulf FC declined to comment.
The results have been annulled while the investigation takes place. If they are confirmed, they would be among the highest recorded in football. The record for the most goals scored is claimed to be a match in Madagascar in 2002, when AS Adema beat SO l’Emyrne 149-0. This was reportedly the result of SO l’Emyrne players deliberately scoring own goal after own goal in protest at refereeing decisions that had gone against them.
Sierra Leone’s men’s national team is ranked 113 in the world, beneath North Korea but above Kazakhstan. It was knocked out of the latest Africa Cup of Nations at the group stage.