In an end-of-season international friendly, with one side leading 4-0, why on earth would the referee want to add on a heap of stoppage time? Surely the best advice would be to blow up and let everyone go home. But that is not what Ibrahim Chaibou did last Wednesday when he was in charge of the match between Nigeria and Argentina in Abuja. He added on five extra minutes. True, there had been plenty of second-half substitutions but it was hard to see why five extra minutes were necessary or desirable.
But then it got stranger. Five minutes came and went. Then six. Then seven. And then he awarded Argentina an absurd penalty for a non-existent handball. Mauro Boselli converted it to make the final score 4-1 to the home side.
With an alleged splurge of bets on a late goal, it is little wonder that Fifa is opening an investigation into the events.
Controversy aside, there is another question that emerges from Nigeria's crushing and thoroughly deserved victory: why on earth would Argentina put their prestige on the line by fielding such a team?
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