Super Falcons Delayed For Three Hours At Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport After Cote d’ Ivoire Clash

Nigerian female national team players and officials have been delayed for over three hours after arriving at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport from Abidjan.

The incident which has been described by the Nigerian Football Federation as ‘unfortunate’ happened hours after the Falcons booked a place in the TotalEnergies 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The Super Falcons had on Wednesday defeated the Lady Elephants of Cote d’ Ivoire by 1-0 and 3-0 on aggregate.

But on arrival from Abidjan, the team was trapped over Covid-19 protocol, the NNF said on Thursday.

But the body denied all wrong doings, saying it met all requirements.

“We are a responsible organisation and the various National Teams have been going out and returning to Nigeria since these Covid-19 protocols, procedures and guidelines started. We have never been caught napping,” said NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi.

Sanusi explained, “The issue had to do with Covid-19 protocols and we had no control over how things would be approached by the officials in charge at the airport each time.

“In this particular case, we fulfilled our part of the requirements. However, some other group of individuals arrived at the same time as the Super Falcons’ contingent and were bent on circumventing the process, and compelled the health officials to adopt measures and even lock up some of their offices.

“It was beyond us, but we have already apologized to our players and officials over this incident.”