All things being equal, Nigeria will play their remaining Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches at the 60,000 capacity National Stadium in Abuja, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has ordered. The Super Eagles have been ordered to play their remaining Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches in the capital after their loss to Congo in Calabar. This means that they will no longer play in Calabar, where they have called home for the past three years following their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Congo on September 6.
The UJ Esuene Stadium had been an impregnable fortress for the Super Eagles until their first ever defeat there by the Central Africans. The Nigeria Football Federation has been directed to inform the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that the remaining Super Eagles matches in the AFCON qualifiers will now be played in Abuja. The NFF is currently undergoing a lean purse and has been depending largely on the benevolence of the Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke who has single-handedly bankrolled the camping exercise of the Super Eagles including the players and coaches’ feeding and accommodation every time the team has a home match to play.
Thus, the NFF is trying to get the NSC under its Director General, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye to rescind its decision claiming that it doesn’t have money to prosecute Super Eagles games in Abuja and because Abuja fans don’t turn up for games that much as well as the security challenges to confront. The NSC irked by the negative publicity generated by the complaints of the bad pitch in Calabar, has directed the NFF to relocate all the Super Eagles matches to Abuja National stadium that boast of very good pitch.
Undeterred by the directive of the NSC, the Cross Rivers State government has begun the process of getting the stadium back to shape even as the NFF tries to convince the NSC to allow the Super Eagles to play Sudan in Calabar in October.
