CLEARED! Super Eagles keeper Obasogie is innocent - Singida Black Stars rip up three-month ban

Nigeria's Amas Obasogie can finally breathe again. The 26-year-old Super Eagles stopper has been fully exonerated after Singida Black Stars in Tanzania tore up his three-month suspension.

Pulse Sports Nigeria reports that following a thorough internal investigation, the verdict is crystal clear: no match-fixing, no funny business, just a goalkeeper having the kind of nightmare spell that makes you want to hide under your duvet.

Obasogie had been placed in the sin bin on February 27 after a string of questionable performances that had fans and club stakeholders raising their eyebrows, most notably in clashes against Flambeau du Centre in the CAF Confederation Cup, and domestic outings against Pamba Jiji and Namungo FC in the NBC Premier League. 

The errors were bad enough that Singida's Disciplinary Committee launched a formal investigation into whether something more sinister was going on.

But after reviewing the evidence, taking Obasogie's defence on board, and hearing a clear statement from the club's General Manager, the Disciplinary Committee ruled on March 7 that the goalkeeper's mistakes were nothing more than technical errors, the sort that any player can make during a rough patch of form. The ban has been reversed with immediate effect.

For his part, Obasogie, who was initially shocked by the accusation, hasn't hidden behind the verdict. The Nigerian shot-stopper has issued a personal apology for the worry his performances caused, vowing to put in the hard yards on the training pitch and win back the trust of those who stood by him and those who didn't.

The timing couldn't be better or more awkward, depending on how you look at it. Obasogie returns to first-team training just as Nigeria's upcoming international friendlies loom on the horizon. 

Whether the Super Eagles will come knocking remains to be seen, but there's no doubt this saga will have done Obasogie's nerves no favours whatsoever.

Bottom line? Obasogie is innocent, he's back, and now he's got a point to prove. Football can be brutal, but it can also be forgiving when the facts are on your side