Nigerian defender Ugo Njoku has been handed a three-match at the Women’s World Cup, following an incident involving Sam Kerr of Australia.
The 20-year-old came off the bench during her side’s 2-0 defeat, and appeared to elbow her opponent with intent. The occurrence went unpunished during the game, but has since been examined by officials.
Members of FIFA’s disciplinary committee scrutinised footage from the fixture, and decided the ban was a suitable punishment for the youngster in just her sixth international appearance.
The ban means Njoku, who plays her club football with Rivers Angels, will miss her country’s final group game, before seeing her ban continue to Nigeria’s next two official matches which are unlikely to be in this year’s tournament as the African look set to miss out on the last 16.
The decision from the governing body comes shortly after a similar incident involving French striker Camille Abily and England’s Laura Bassett went unpunished. Abily received no ban for the elbow that left the England defender with a nasty-looking black eye, which was also missed by the referee during the game, and the Football Association chose not to contest FIFA’s ruling.
Nigeria’s first game without Njoku will be against USA on Wednesday 17 June.
