Worgu protests his innocence

By James Copnall
BBC Sport, Khartoum

Stephen Worgu had been settling in to life in Sudan before the charges

Nigeria star Stephen Worgu has protested his innocence after being sentenced to 40 lashes for drinking alcohol.

Alcohol is banned in the Muslim north of Sudan, where he plays for El Merreikh.

The sentence, which also includes a fine, has been suspended pending an appeal.

"I have done absolutely nothing wrong - really I had not been drinking," Worgu told BBC Sport.

"I was coming back from my friends' house, I had eaten Nigerian food, when the policemen stopped me.

"I didn't know why they were stopping me."

Worgu says one policeman then got in the car with him and told him to drive to the police station.

"If you are drunk, you are not supposed to drive, I don't know how a drunk man can be allowed to drive a policeman," Worgu said.

The player says he was not breath tested and no alcohol was found in his car.

Nevertheless a court found him guilty of drinking alcohol, which is a crime under Sharia law, which is in force in northern Sudan.

"These guys said I drunk Aragi - I asked my lawyer what is Aragi, and he said it is a local drink made with alcohol," Worgu explained.

"My lawyer said 'This guy earns good money, Aragi costs only a pound, how can he stoop so low as to drink Aragi?'"

Despite the trauma of the court case and the conviction, Worgu says he is slowly adapting to life in Sudan.

In April he had told the BBC he was struggling in his new country, but now the young star says he is 'settling in" and now feels he is "very much ok."