The Super Falcons in the early hours of Thursday were prevented from leaving the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja upon their arrival from the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier in Abidjan.
In a now-viral video, the players and officials were seen expressing their grievances at the treatment meted out to them by the airport authorities after securing the country’s participation at the 2022 AWCON.
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The Nigerians had bested their West Africans 3-0 on aggregate to earn a chance to defend their continental crown in Morroco later in the year.
In a chat with the general manager, Public Affairs of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, said the Super Falcons were denied exit by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) officials and the Aviation Security (AVSEC) officials because they flouted COVID-19 mandatory protocol.
She said, “When they all arrived on a flight at the Abuja airport, the Super Falcons and even other passengers refused to make the mandatory COVID-19 payment to NCDC claiming they were being extorted. So, most of them walked away but because the door was locked, they couldn’t exit and they were forced to return to make their payments before leaving.”
Meanwhile, the sports minister, Sunday Dare, has strongly condemned the unpleasant treatment of the team.
Dare said a complete account of what happened has been received by his office and the ministry will send it to the National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to thoroughly investigate the matter.
In the same vein, the Nigeria Football Federation has described as ‘unfortunate’ the incident and has apologised to the team.
NFF general secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “It was an unfortunate incident, because we had our protocol officers on ground at the airport and they did the needful before the team arrived.
“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 this compelled the health officials to adopt stern measures and even lock up some of their offices.
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