October 04, (THEWILL) – The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is waiting for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to make a judgement on the number of fans allowed in the stands to cheer on the Super Eagles in the second round qualifying match for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup against the Central African Republic (CAR).
Nigeria is seeking their third win in a row. The majority of football supporters in Nigeria’s commercial capital have shown an interest in attending Eagles games, but the final decision rests with CAF.
A source from the NFF said: “Due to the existing COVID-19 protocol, capacity of a stadium no longer decides the level of attendance. Only CAF can decide the number of fans to allow into any home game. We are however waiting for CAF’s decision even though it is almost certain now that match tickets may not be available to the public.”
Since the COVID-19 period, the Super Eagles have only played two home matches. One in the AFCON qualifying round against Lesotho, and the other in the World Cup qualifying series against Lone Star of Liberia.
For the previous match, the Lagos State Sports Commission issued tickets to fans, and the same scenario is likely to repeat again on Thursday at the same site.
Meanwhile, the majority of the players invited by Coach Gernot Rohr to play against the CAR are due to arrive in camp from Monday.
According to the players’ travel logistics, those from the United Kingdom are likely to be among the first to be in camp tonight, with the others set to arrive on Tuesday night for a full training session on Wednesday morning.
The NFF source pointed this out when he said: “Most of the players in the United Kingdom are expected in camp on Monday morning because the arrangement was that after their club engagements Sunday afternoon, they will move straight to airport and head for Lagos.”
Among the players expected on Monday are UK-based Kelechi Iheanacho, Leon Balogun, William Troost-Ekong, Joe Aribo, and Ahmed Musa.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
