Sports
Nigeria Reports Match Agents To FIFA
Nigeria and Colombia are to report Pro-Global sports, the Match Agent for today’s pre-World Cup friendly, to FIFA for irresponsible behaviour.
The game, originally scheduled to be played at West Ham’s Upton Park, was on the brink of collapse, after the agents allegedly failed to meet up with their committments.
It was subsequently shifted to Luton Town’s stadium before both parties settled for Milton Keynes.
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Media Officer, Ademola Olajire explained that the fixture was rescued, only when the Nigeria federation volunteered to underwrite the expenses of the Colombians, including the appearance fee they were promised by the agent.
“To avoid what would have been a catastrophic blow and a national embarrassment, the NFF have now stepped in, undertaking to meet all financial obligations of organising the match, including all the costs of the Colombians and the appearance fee that Pro–Global Sports had promised them.
“The agents kept telling us that everything was under control, providing documentation in support of their claims, and it was not until a delegation of the NFF visited London recently that alarm bells started ringing,” he said.
Olajire confirmed that the game will now definitely go ahead as planned, at Milton Keynes, but without paying spectators.
“All arrangements have been made, and the match will now be played at the Milton Keynes Stadium, albeit with no commercial crowd attendance due to the short time frame.”
The 22,000 -capacity Milton Keynes Stadium is one 15 stadia that has been put forward by England to host the 2018 World Cup finals should their bid be successful.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.