I saw AFCON disaster coming —Oduah •Calls for investigation News

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I saw AFCON disaster coming —Oduah •Calls for investigation

By Victor Enyinnaya on April 4, 2016

Former board member of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Prince Isidore Oduah, has blasted the Pinnick Amaju-led leadership of the federation for incompetence and lack of vision that resulted in Nigeria’s failure to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Oduah was reacting to the ouster of the country from the Gabon 2017 Nations Cup football summit by Egypt. He criticised the choice of Kaduna as the host for the first leg of the double header against Egypt, insisting that it was the beginning of the disaster which finally came on March 29 in faraway Alexandria, Egypt.

Said Prince Oduah: “Let me for the sake of emphasis say again that it was one of the numerous wrong decisions this board has taken that instantly backfired. How on earth would a vitally pro-active board take its game to obvious harsh weather when the bulk of her players come from Europe? It was again the most irresponsible decision by people that claim to be administrators. Our players desperately fought the harsh hot weather on their supposedly home ground. It is incredible. There should be investigation to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of this decision to stage the game in the state that obviously is not suitable to host such game at that point in time.”

The immediate past Vice Chairman of Anambra State Football Association remarked that everything went wrong by the choice of Kaduna venue. He posited that if the game was played in the southern part of the country the Super Eagles would have defeated the Pharaohs hands-down and with such high spirit the second leg would have put the hosts in intensive pressure which the Nigerians would have capitalised on such to wreak havoc instead in Alexandria.

“Pinnick and his men must face investigative panel to provide answers on why the game was taken to Kaduna considering the fact that the bulk of Eagles came from cold European weather. The situation calls for thorough investigation, if for nothing, at least to avoid a re-occurrence in the future. The Eagles that played both legs were the kind of side the country needs and would have snatched the sole group ticket if the NFF planned well. It has happened. This is not a typical case of crying over spilled milk but a clarion call to nip in the bud such silly mistake,” he said.

The former member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) further counseled that concrete machinery for the qualification for the 2018 Russia World Cup be set in full motion, not just mere talk as Pinnick recently told Nigerians in the heat of the country’s dismissal from the Nations Cup by the North African invaders.

He pointed out that the World Cup qualifiers would be tougher, stressing that only early and adequate preparations would do the magic. Nigeria, he remarked, needs the world football summit in Russia to reinvent her battered and fast decaying game.

“The board has messed up the game due to the intrigues and rabble rousing they have created to sabotage themselves,” Prince Oduah said. “There are lots of cold wars going on among them and until the board collectively works together no meaningful result will come out of the football house. The existing different groups and camps must be properly harmonised, otherwise the cracks won’t abate. The ego there is frightening as most executive committee members are left out of the mainstream, hence the internal wrangling.”

•Photo shows Prince Isidore Oduah.

Source Daily Sports

Posted April 4, 2016