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NFF worried about Super Eagles’ form, to meet on venue, new date

By Gowon Akpodonor
05 July 2017   |   4:30 am
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says one of its major concerns ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Cameroun is the current form of Super Eagles players.Most of our players in Europe are currently off season, while Cameroun just featured in the FIFA Confederations Cup campaign.

Green said that Super Eagles handler, Gernot Rohr’s current tour of Europe would be of good help, adding: “We are in touch with him (Coach Rohr). He is touring Europe to be very sure of the present state of health of the players.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says one of its major concerns ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Cameroun is the current form of Super Eagles players.Most of our players in Europe are currently off season, while Cameroun just featured in the FIFA Confederations Cup campaign. So, our prayer is for the Eagles to be in good health and superb form before the encounter with the Indomitable Lions. That is very important for our team at the moment,” Chairman of NFF Technical and Development Committee, Chris Green said yesterday in a chat with The Guardian.

Green said that Super Eagles handler, Gernot Rohr’s current tour of Europe would be of good help, adding: “We are in touch with him (Coach Rohr). He is touring Europe to be very sure of the present state of health of the players. We are not sleeping and I pray we get it right against Cameroun so that our qualification to Russia 2018 will be possible.”

Green also spoke on the new date proposed by world football ruling body FIFA for the tie against Cameroun: “I think the board may have to meet soon to decide whether to accept the new date by FIFA or not.

In a new proposal communicated to the NFF last week, FIFA shifted the date for the clash from the original date of September 1 to August 30 due to issues bordering on Television broadcast. The Amaju Pinnick-led NFF is said to be holding talks with top officials of FIFA with a view to persuading them to see reasons why the game should not be moved forward. The argument by the NFF is that the Super Eagles will enjoy full house if the match is played on September 1, which is not guaranteed if the match is played on a Friday (August 30) as being proposed by FIFA.

Meanwhile, Green has said that the NFF board would also thrash out issues surrounding the match venue soon. “For now, the match venue remains the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo. But whether that will change or not will be decided by the NFF board.”

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