In the wake of what befell the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria in their quest fora place in 2017 U-17 African Cup of Nations, the Nigeria Football Federation vowed to challenge the outcome of the match highlighting poor officiating by match referee and rough handling of Nigerian officials who wanted to record the proceedings of the match in Niamey last weekend.
The Golden Eaglets were beaten 3-1 by host Niger on Saturday but the NFF through its general secretary Mohammed Sanusi revealed that the Federation is reviewing the situation and will make a complaint to CAF.
The Eaglets had a chance at home in the first leg played in Abuja earlier in the month but could only manage a lone goal. If the Eaglets had won with a wide margin, this situation might have been averted.
Consequently,the Eaglets who were champions in the last edition held in Chile would not be among Africa’s representatives in Madagascar 2017 World Cup.
Reports also have it that the team has been advised by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Niger Abduljelil Sulaimon to forget about the incident and move on. He charged the team at a reception organized for the team at Royal Palace Hotel.
It could be recalled that Nigeria U-20 also missed out on an opportunity to be at next African Cup of Nations ( Zambia 2017 ) following a loss to Sudan inside the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. The country has also crashed out of the senior Africa Cup of Nations holding in Rwanda 2017.
Playing at tournaments is no one’s birthright, but when a nation like Nigeria fails to qualify at all level then there is a root cause which must be treated. Year 2017 is just around the corner with loads of events, and the reality is that Nigerians will only be spectators / audience during the various championships.
More so, it appears we have failed to accept is that other nations are developing while Nigeria’s growth in football has been stunted, hence, the earlier we admit the better.
