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ROKER ROUNDUP: “I’m not a liar!” - ex-Sunderland man hits out re: controversial China departure

Former Sunderland striker Victor Anichebe has taken to Instagram to clear up rumours about the reasons why he’s still a free agent following news last week that he’d reported his most recent club to FIFA for match fixing.

By Andy Tomlinson
Your daily reminder of Sunderland news!

Anichebe speaks out

Reports emerged last week that Victor Anichebe had reported his former club Beijing Enterprises to FIFA over match-fixing concerns.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Anichebe was asked ‘not to try’ by the Chinese club’s coaches and when he queried that with his team-mates, was told ‘this is China, we do as we’re told’.

The former Sunderland striker has responded to those reports on Instagram where he revealed that although he was left with a positive experience of the country, the past year has been ‘incredibly testing’ for him due to Beijing Enterprises trying to silence Anichebe’s claims.

View this post on Instagram

So many of you guys have been inquiring as to why haven’t I been playing. A lot of you have speculated that I have retired. For a long time I haven’t said anything regarding my absence from football due to advice received from my lawyers. Fact of the matter is I’ve been in dispute with my former employer, Beijing Enterprise. As a result of this dispute I was unable to play. This matter is currently in the hands of FIFA in whom I trust and respect will give the correct verdict, in due course. This is my first time speaking about this publicly despite seeing many articles written regarding my situation. Although, I am not at liberty to discuss in details the extent of my dispute with my former team I felt obligated to respond to them calling me a “liar”. In doing so, they have managed to call into question my character. As I stand here today I can truly say, in all conscience, I am not lying about any allegation I have put forth regarding my former team. I have tried on numerous occasions to resolve this issue prior to involving outside parties. Even with all the evidence I have (videos, pictures, conversations, witness statements etc) I have yet to leak a single peace of evidence to media because I have placed confidence in the legal process and FIFA’s ability to resolve it. But rest assured that once the appropriate verdict has been rendered by FIFA, I will then be 100% compelled to show proof and tell the complete story. Despite all that has happened, I really enjoyed my short stint in China. It afforded me the opportunity to embrace the culture and football as it was fairly different to what I’ve been used to. But due to numerous factors my time was cut short sadly. Since then I can’t lie this past year has been incredibly testing and difficult. They’ve tried all kinds to break me and silence me but I continue to seek justice. I have total faith that everything happens for a reason and the whole truth will soon come to light. God bless

A post shared by VA (@victoranichebe) on

Swansea City v Sunderland - Premier League Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Oviedo keen to impress

Costa Rica take on Mexico in a friendly this week and that game will mark the first game in charge for their new manager Gustavo Matosas.

On his arrival in Mexico for the friendly match, Bryan Oviedo said he is keen to impress the much travelled Uruguayan coach but admitted that he did not know much about him:

Everything starts from scratch, a new coach comes in and we’ll now try to show that we want to be here.

[I know him] very little, I have never worked with him. We are all excited about this new opportunity we have of a new coach and from now on we will start working in the best way.

Oviedo also revealed that he’s excited to play against Mexico, thanks to his country’s ‘healthy rivalry’ with their hosts:

For us it’s a Classic to play against Mexico, we have a beautiful rivalry, obviously healthy, I think it’s going to be a very important game for the two teams.

Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

First goal for Shields

Connor Shields scored his first goal in his first league start whilst out on loan at Alloa Athletic at the weekend. The fantastically taken headed goal put his side 3-0 up against Queen of the South but Alloa had to settle for a draw thanks to a Stephen Dobbie hat-trick.

You can see the goal below thanks to Queen of the South TV:

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