Nigeria blasts Weah for World Cup bribe slur

Nigerian football officials blasted former World Footballer of the Year, George Weah for reported remarks of Nigeria having bribed Ghana to allow them to win in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

"What else do you expect from a drowning man? He only wants to pull everybody down with him," said Tijjani Yusuf, general secretary of the Nigerian Football Association (NFA).

"Nobody should lose any sleep over Weah's allegations. They are baseless and irrelevant. They are the outburst of a desperate man," he added. Nigeria, who had not beaten Ghana in 24 years, needed a win against their old rivals on Sunday to clinch a World Cup ticket, edging out Weah's Liberia. Ahead of the match, which Nigeria won easily, Weah warned Nigeria might try to bribe Ghana to lose.

"FIFA accessors were around and they saw things for themselves," Yusuf told AFP on Tuesday. "How can we be involved in any funny thing at this time."

FIFA had warned Ghana not to under-perform following rumours that there have been moves to fix the outcome of the game on the eve of the World Cup qualifier in Port Harcourt.