Omeruo noted that such cyberbullying could affect the morale of Super Eagles players or result in them quiting the national team
By Kehinde Okeowo
Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo has revealed that his teammate, Ola Aina received a death threat from a fan, following Nigeria’s loss to Cote d’Ivoire in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final.
In his words, the fan wished the Nottingham Forest wing-back death for coming out second-best in the one-on-one duel against Brighton and Ivory Coast winger, Simon Adingra during the encounter.
He went on to note that the cyberbullying from fans could affect the confidence of Super Eagles players, adding that as a result they could quit representing the national team.
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Speaking with Arise News recently, Omeruo said: “There are a lot of people who are angry for nothing’s sake and they will come at you. Before this tournament we have been getting criticisms.
“For example, someone wrote to Ola Aina on Instagram, ‘I hope you die’. They just write whatever, they don’t care about the consequences and most times I have stopped myself from replying to a lot of messages.
“If I reply like this, one blog will pick it and they will make a big deal out of it but we just have to grow thick skin and hopefully keep winning because when we win they forget about every other thing.”
He continued: “I was speaking to Ola and he made some comments that I won’t say here but if we lose a player like him just because of some bullying from some fans that are not even important, then it is going to affect us.
“Imagine Ola Aina, for me, was one of the best players in the tournament and was named in the Team of the Tournament as well.”