Super Eagles assistant coach Salisu Yusuf caught in bribery scandal

Super Eagles assistant coach Salisu Yusuf was caught on camera  by an undercover journalist  last year allegedly receiving a bribe to include two unnamed players in his squad for the Morocco 2018 African Nations Championship.

The home-based Eagles were defeated in the final of the competition which took place in January in Morocco.

The former Kano Pillars and  Enyimba manager  thus  joined the list of African football personalities who have been implicated in bribery scandals.

Former  CAF and FIFA executive member  Amos Adamu, former  Ghana Football Association president Kwesi Nyantakyi and Kenyan referee Aden  Marwa were banned by the world football body after being filmed by undercover journalists either demanding or receiving  cash gifts to influence their decisions.

A BBC  footage published on Tuesday   showed  Salisu  allegedly receiving a cash gift  said to be $1,000 from investigative Ghanaian  journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who   reportedly   implicated  Nyantakyi after he allegedly   demanded bribes and received kickbacks.

In the video, the  coach, who helped Nigeria win silver at the 2018 CHAN,  was promised  15 per cent of the fee if the players made his  squad for the tournament.

The BBC said the footage was part of a wider investigation into corruption in African football by   Anas. But Salisu has denied any wrongdoing after  the sting video.

He  confirmed  meeting with  two persons  who introduced themselves as football agents and that they had a discussion about players for the CHAN in his letter to BBC.

“I can remember giving them my honest answer to the end that if the said players were found suitable in the selection process, they would indeed be selected,” he wrote.

“I did accept $750 handed to me by one of the two agents to the two Nigerian players only as a gift of trivial and symbolic value and not as an inducement to play the two players represented by the two agents as Anas Aremeyaw Anas and Tiger Eye would want you to believe.”

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi told KweséESPN that the organisation would launch an internal investigation.

“We have seen the video on the internet, just like everybody else, and these are very serious allegations,” Sanusi said.

“We will be carrying out an internal investigation.”