Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has begged the Nigeria Federal Government over the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for this year’s 2022 World Cup by issuing an official apology.
The Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw by the Black Stars of Ghana in the second leg playoff encounter on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
The draw meant Nigeria failed to qualify based on the away goal rule since the first leg of the tie ended 0-0 at the Babayara Stadium in Kumasi last week.
Ahead of the game against Ghana, the Nigerian government provided all the necessary incentives for to have 60,000 Nigerians in attendance for the second leg match in Abuja.
Civil servants were also ordered to leave offices by 1 pm on the match day to be able to offer their support to the Super Eagles to enhance their qualification to the Mundial.
Despite all the government support the Super Eagles could not topple Ghana to secure one of Africa’s five slots in Qatar this November.
The apology was issued through a statement by NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi and the statement said;
“There was nothing the team needed that was lacking. The Government provided necessary support; the NFF put all logistics in place with the active support of the Sports Ministry and; Nigerians turned out en masse to support the team. The truth is that we left nothing to chance. It is sad that things turned out the way they did.
“Sport is about winning and losing. Nobody wants to lose but sometimes it happens that way. We are quite sad that despite playing a draw in Kumasi, the Super Eagles could not win here in Abuja. We apologise unreservedly to the Government and people of Nigeria for this non-qualification.”
