NFF: For Now, No Plans to Leave Lagos

Posted by admin Headlines, Soccer, Sports Saturday, February 12th, 2011

Against the backdrop of the players’ complaints over the artificial turf of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, and the booing of the Super Eagles in the dying minutes of the match against Sierra Leone’s Leone Stars Wednesday, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has said it does not have plans to shift the venue of next month’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia.

Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme, the Deputy Secretary General (Technical) of the NFF said this much Thursday night, insisting: “We will not move the Super Eagles from Lagos.”

Demanding commitment from all interest groups in the game in the country, such as administrators, coaches, players, the media and the fans, the NFF top official particularly appealed for patriotism from the fans.
“It doesn’t make sense booing a bunch of players who are playing together for the very first time. They played well and were even leading before a few slips. That is not unexpected in a trial game like the one we played against the Leone Stars,” observed Dr. Ikpeme.

Most of the senior players in the team, who ply their trade in the English Premiership, had before the match, complained over the hardness of the artificial turf of the stadium and even reasoned that it was the reason most of the players were slow with the ball.
Chelsea’s defensive midfielder, John Mikel Obi was excused from playing on doctor’s advice because the turf was capable of aggravating his ankle injury.

It had been reported after the game that perhaps the NFF would be moving the match in view of the state of the pitch and the booing of the team by Lagos fans.

Although another reason given was the chaotic traffic situation, which saw the game being delayed by more than 20 minutes because the teams could not gain entrance to the stadium.

-Punchwp_posts