A bizarre case in Nigeria has seen a dead referee assigned to officiate a match between local sides Warri Wolves and Giwa FC, the BBC reports.

It comes as Chris Giwa, who lays claim to the Nigerian Football Federation, continues to challenge its current president Amaju Pinnick.

A Nigerian court has ruled that Giwa should replace the Fifa-recognised Pinnick and in an attempt to exert his authority opted to name the weekend’s top-flight officials.

However, among those selected is Wale Akinsanya, who died in January.

Giwa’s NFF rival group sent notice of its actions to the chief operation officer of the league management company on Wednesday.

It is now likely that two sets of match officials could turn up for the fixtures, minus the deceased referee selected by Giwa.

The political in-fighting in Nigeria’s football federation has prompted the sport’s governing body, Fifa, to issue a warning. They have said that Pinnick and his board must continue in charge of the NFF or Nigeria would face a global suspension.