Super Eagles handler, Sunday Oliseh, may incur the wrath of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over his statement following the ouster of the home-based Super Eagles from the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Rwanda.
Nigeria failed to pick the quarterfinal ticket after the team lost its last Group C match 1-0 to the Syli Stars of Guinea on Tuesday, January 26 at the Muganda Stadium in Ribavu, Rwanda.
Though Oliseh apologised to Nigerians for a disappointing campaign, he stressed that his players were not well motivated.
“Our vision was to win the trophy and that was why we took every game seriously and we are sorry for the ouster.
“But the fact must be told that the team lacked motivation ahead of the final group match. The players played under harsh conditions which left them with little or no motivation for the match,” he explained.
“I did my best to motivate the players following non-payment of their allowances and bonuses all to no avail.
“They did not enjoy the right motivation that other teams were enjoying at the championship and I could not blame them because they all have families to cater for.”
Some players collaborated him, saying they put in their best which was not good enough and sought forgiveness, but asked not to be blamed for the defeat as they were not motivated before the match.
However, a source at the NFF’s office in Abuja said top officials are not happy with the statement credited to Oliseh and may summon him to a meeting on arrival from Rwanda.
“The statement was heavy and we are not going to take it lightly with him. We did our best as officials of the NFF and assured the players and officials of good things to come after the championship.
“They should have listened to us and put in their best since we gave the assurance, and wait for us to fulfil our part of the promise but that never happened.
“We all know the situation in the country but they failed to abide with us and now we are out of the championship. Too bad.”
Nigeria needed only a draw to qualify for the next stage while Guinea needed an outright victory.
Guinea scored in the 45th minute and held on to the goal to the final whistle, which was good enough to give it the quarterfinal ticket alongside Tunisia.
In the first match, Nigeria beat Niger 4-1. It forced Tunisia to a 1-1 draw then lost the last group match to Guinea.
