Sporting Lagos have condemned what they describe as one of the worst cases of officiating in Nigerian football history after a controversial 2-1 loss to Gateway United, Soccernet.ng reports.
This was marred by a string of bizarre decisions from referee Adebayo Qudus during the Nigeria National League (NNL) clash between the two clubs.
The drama unfolded when Sporting Lagos forward Seun scored a seemingly legitimate goal, only for the referee to disallow it for offside—despite the assistant referee turning toward the centre circle to signal a goal. To make matters worse, Seun was then shown a yellow card for the effort.
Minutes later, the striker found the net again, but the referee blew the whistle mid-play and handed him a second yellow card—followed by a red—effectively ending his involvement in the match. Neither goal was flagged offside by the assistant referee.
An NNL referee ruled this out for offside even without the AR raising her flag pic.twitter.com/pCjXhkVeqs
— Micolo⚡️ (@official_micolo) May 24, 2025
The turning point opened the door for Gateway United, who were handed a controversial penalty to level the game at 1-1, before going on to secure a 2-1 win against the depleted Sporting Lagos side.
Taking to social media, a board executive at Sporting Lagos, Fola Olatunji-David, expressed disbelief and fury at the officiating.
“One of our @SportingLagos players was shown two yellow cards for scoring 2 separate goals that were deemed offside,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“The first goal was scored, then the whistle came and a yellow card. The second goal, [the] whistle came while [the] shot was in motion. Neither goal was offside. I have never seen a player carded for scoring a goal before the whistle was blown.”
He added, “This is after the referee had awarded the home side Gateway United a penalty for a non-existent foul to level the game at 1-1. People should be out of jobs—and some people in jail—for what is going on in Nigerian football.”
The incident has sparked widespread outrage across Nigerian football circles, with many demanding an urgent investigation and sanctions for the officiating crew.
As of the time of filing this report, the NNL and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have yet to issue an official statement.