The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been called to probe what has “become a great embarrassment to the game in Nigeria, one that has been reoccurring and must be arrested…..”
FIFA Match Commissioner and CAF General Coordinator Paul Bassey in a release issued in Cairo yesterday said “…it is a shame that in 2015, a professional football club in Nigeria, one that is not alien to continental qualification, can fail to honour her match in situations that are very amateurish and murky, to say the least.
“Dolphins knew more than two weeks ago that they were going to play in Tunisia, they were communicated the venue and time of the match. How they were still found in Nigeria on the eve of the match, even without visas in a country that has an Embassy in Nigeria, needs to be investigated, if not it will happen again”
The CAF Instructor on Club Licensing recounted the ordeal of the Nigerian contingent now in Cairo for the Seminar”… who have had to hear the “Dolphins case” mentioned again and again”
“When the CAF Secretary General delivered his Opening Address to the seminar, he drew the attention of participants to the Dolphins case and since then the issue has come up again and again as people wonder the circumstances of their been walked over and eventual elimination from the competition”
According to Paul Bassey, this is not the first time it has happened “ …The history of Nigeria football is replete with instances where clubs who qualify for Africa don’t perfect their travel arrangements, don’t care to find out about the strength of the opposition, weather, food, playing surface and other details that will help in facilitating their encounter”.
Dolphins Football Club of Port Harcourt was billed to face Club Africain of Tunisia and could not fly out early enough for the match. Frantic efforts to contact CAF led to the Tunisian Football Federation insisting that “….we spent over a week trying to get to them for information on their arrival and strength of their delegation to no avail and reported to CAF accordingly. The time and venue of this match was fixed by CAF. The venue, Radez is booked for Sunday. All logistics have been completed, tickets sold, hotels booked, everything. This is unacceptable…..”
As at Monday, the Nigerians were still stranded in Tunisia.
