Etuhu and Jusufi both banned
Former Nigeria international Dickson Etuhu has been banned from all soccer activity in Sweden for five years by the Swedish Football Association after being found guilty of attempting to influence the outcome of a game.
Sweden’s Alban Jusufi has also been for five years. The Swedish FA ruled that both players were in violation of Section 1.4 of the game’s anti-match-fixing rules.
Etuhu and Jusufi allegedly asked Stamatopoulos to underperform in May 2017
The pair allegedly tried to bribe a teammate of Etuhu at AIK Solna. The player in question is goalkeeper Kyriakos Stamatopoulos. Etuhu and Jusufi allegedly asked Stamatopoulos to underperform in May 2017 when his team played against IFK Gothenburg.
Alleged bribe
The Swedish FA’s ruling states that the two players offered Stamatopoulos SEK2m ($200,000) to underperform. However, he reported this attempted bribe to the authorities, resulting in the game being postponed.
The Svea High Court and the Stockholm District Court ruled that the two players were in violation of match-fixing regulations. The initial conviction came in November 2019, with both players receiving probation.
Who is Dickson Etuhu?
Etuhu has not played professional soccer since October 2017, when he was playing for IFK Rössjöholm. The former Super Eagles player grew up in London and played for Manchester City, Sunderland, Fulham, and Blackburn Rovers in England before moving overseas to play for AIK and IFK Rössjöholm.
The 37-year-old made 33 appearances for Nigeria between 2007 and 2011. He also made three appearances for his country at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.