WHY WE COULDN’T PLAY, EQUAVOEN

The Super Eagles Interim Coach, Augustine Eguavoen has expressed his thoughts on the possibility of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) awarding three points to Libya after Nigeria forfeited the game. He emphatically stated that there was no way the Nigerian team would have played under the circumstances they faced.

He explained that the team was not allowed to leave the airport, and that the NFF president suggested finding a hotel outside the airport, but this was not possible. He identified that the team did not forfeit the game intentionally and he expressed the confidence that CAF will make a fair judgment based on the evidence presented to it.

He said in an interview with Arise TV, ‘There’s no way we would have played under those circumstances. If you were there, then you would understand what I’m saying. Because at some point, the president said, “Okay, you know what, we have to go out of the airport to find a hotel,” but they wouldn’t even let us out of the airport. So, how do you interpret that?

There was no food, and it was a guy who came from the embassy who bought us some bread. And that’s what we had eaten since that time. So, there’s no way, no way we would have played under such circumstances. Even CAF is definitely looking into it, and we have enough evidence to prove that we didn’t forfeit the game intentionally. I believe CAF will be fair in their judgment.”