Lagos, June 18 (IANS): The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has slammed a two-match ban on Nigeria midfielder Ogenyi Onazi over his sending-off in Saturday's 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Chad.
Ogenyi, who plays for Italian club Lazio, was shown a straight red card for retaliation. He committed the act after Nigerian referee Ibrahim Mamane awarded Nigeria a penalty kick for a foul on striker Odion Ighalo, Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
News of the ban was conveyed to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in a circular sent to it from the CAF secretariat.
The ban was for the violent conduct for which Onazi was expelled, the CAF statement added.
Nigeria will visit Tanzania in Dar es Salaam on September 5 on Match Day 2 of the qualifiers, and will then host Egypt on March 25, 2016.