CAF rejects NFF’s request to move Eagles, Benin AFCON qualifier, holds at 5 pm
Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) has turned down Nigeria’s request to shift the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations first leg qualifier against Benin Republic.
Furthermore, the match billed for the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital would be played at 5 pm instead of 7 pm as a result of security concerns.
A source told Sportinglife.ng that CAF received a letter from the NFF who wanted the match moved from November 13 to November 14, 2019, but it was turned down by the football governing body who insisted the match must go on as scheduled.
NFF’s insistence was at the instance of the Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr who said the timeframe will be too short to prepare the team for the encounter.
Moreover Rohr was not happy with the fact that the match will hold two days after the international break opens.
“We took that into consideration the fears of the coach which we spelt out in our letter to CAF but they insisted that the match must go on November 13,” said the source.
Last Saturday, Rohr faulted CAF for not showing enough respect to the Nigeria side after fixing the date.
The German vented his anger through the Twitter handle of London based journalist Osasu Obayiuwana.
“Our game against Benin is on November 13th, which is a Wednesday. The @FIFAcom window opens on Monday. When will our players arrive and prepare for this game? It’s ridiculous. We need to be respected and I have spoken to @CAF_Online’s @AnthonyBaffoe about it,” Rohr said.
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The 67-year-old coach said he had also spoken to the Benin Republic head coach, Michel Mdussuyer on the situation.