Former Nigerian international player Dickson Etuhu has been banned by Swedish Football Association after he was found guilty of match-fixing. The 37-year-old midfielder who traded his fortune in Manchester City between 2000 to 2002 has been suspended from any football activities for five years after he was found guilty of trying to influence the outcome of a match played in 2017.
Dickson Etuhu must have thought he had overturned Justice for his offense after several years without strict punishment given for the illegal act he performed back in 2017. According to reports, Etuhu tried to influence the result of a match between AIK and IFK Gothenburg in May 2017 by trying to pay AIK goal stopper some amount of money to underperform in the match.
The Nigerian player escaped jail term in December after he was found guilty of match-fixing by a Swedish court. He was however handed a fine and mandated to go through a period of probation.
On Thursday 17, 2020, the Swedish Football Association announced that the 37-year-old player has been banned alongside one of his accomplices a former IFK Rossjoholm player Alban Jusufi. This was disclosed via a statement released by the Swedish FA on Thursday which read: “The Disciplinary Board has decided to suspend two people because they have deliberately tried to persuade a football player to underperform in one of the team’s matches,”
“Through their actions, these people have violated the anti-match fixing regulations, and they are therefore suspended for five years.
“The ban includes training, competing or performing any assignments in any sports.”
It could be recalled that prior to his retirement from national football, he played about 33 games for the Super Eagles of Nigeria. His most prominent competition for the Super Eagles was at the World Cup competition in 2010 hosted by South Africa. Dickson Etuhu featured in the three compulsory games of the group stage before Nigeria crashed out of the competition.
