Sports
‘Booing Players, Inimical To Football Dev’
Abuja football fans have condemned the booing of the Super Eagles by the Lagos crowd during their recent friendly encounter with the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone.
Those who spoke with newsmen said that jeering at the Nigerian footballers was imimical to football development.
They said that the attitude could demoralise the players and their handlers.
Mr. Patrick Erimona, coach of the Immigration Football Club and Mrs. Victoria Nlemigbo, a football administrator in the FCT both agreed that the attitude of the fans was embarrassing, to say the least.
Erimona said: “I think that was what made the Super Eagles to leave Lagos for Abuja because of that kind of attitude.
“Booing players, stoning them with pure water after a match, sometimes they will want to beat them and so on; I don’t think that is good for our football, it is not encouraging, what we need is to encourage the coaches and players to do better and not booing them.”
Speaking in the same vein, Victoria also said that: “during the first half it was all Eagles, they were supporting, then during the second half when the game swung in favour of the visiting team you were hearing the ehh, ehh, against us and I don’t think that is healthy for our own soccer development.
“They might say they were enjoying themselves, but they also helped in demoralising the boys.”
Erimona added that the game against the Sierra Leoneans was a good beginning for the new Super Eagles.
Vice president of the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC), Chief Solomon Ogba, foremost Sports Marketer and founder of Okpekpe Road Race, Mike Itemuagbor and top Sports Journalist and Media Strategist, Mitchel Obi have lent their voices in support of the Niger Delta Sports Festival (NDSF).
The personalities with backgrounds in sports administration, marketing and media spoke separately in commendation of the festival, an initiative of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with Dunamis Icon as consultants.
“This is a positive addition to the evolving sports business ecosystem because it is not just a springboard for identifying talents, it also offers a platform to truly hone the skills of those already discovered”, remarked Obi, who served as Special Advisor to a former Sports Minister, late Anthony Ikhazabor.
He said the festival will be a flagship event in the region that would trigger interest in sports among the youths and people of the region.
Edo State-born Itemuagbor commended the NDDC for the decision to add sports in the list of their intervention projects in the region, adding that: “This speaks directly to the problem of youth restiveness which is of great concern to our people.”
Raphael Onyedika has now emerged as a major doubt for the Super Eagles’ must-win 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe later this month.
The midfielder was forced out early from last week’s league game against Standard Liege.
He has not recovered from the injury and so will miss today’s league match against Gent and may also miss a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash against Aston Villa yesterday.
The Super Eagles take on Rwanda in Kigali on March 21, before they face Zimbabwe in Uyo four days later in crucial World Cup qualifiers.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Al-Khalood defender, William Troost-Ekong, has shared his experience on the difficulties of winning the prestigious Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) while describing it a must win trophy.
The former Watford FC defender has competed in the tournament three times but has yet to lift the trophy.
“I’ve been there three times now, bronze medal, silver medal, but I haven’t had the chance to win it. That remains my ultimate goal,” he told Tidesports source.
“It means so much to me and all the kids growing up in Africa and Nigeria.”
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