Referee, Victor Gomes (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
USM Alger were not directly implicated in trying to bribe Gomes, however, the club responded to a tweet from Nigerian-based BB journalist Osasu Obayiuwana.
Obayiuwana broke the story on his Twitter account and confirmed that Gomes had recorded the conversation between him and the alleged bribers, who offered his and his team $30 000 to fix the game between Alger and Plateau United.
Gomes is said to have submitted the recording to Caf as evidence in the case.
“On the basis of a tweet published on the account of a Nigerian journalist from the BBC who evokes an alleged attempt at corruption which, however, hardly cites the name of the USMA in this case, some self-proclaimed, professional press, eager for false scoops and sensational have rushed on their keyboards to denigrate our club (sic),” lamented the USMA.
“For the direction of USM Algiers, this is only a hate campaign aimed at destabilizing the club. USM Algiers has always respected the sports ethic, the values that our club has, do not allow it to use this kind of practices (sic),” added the red and black, who are eagerly awaiting an investigation by the Caf in this case.
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