NFF President Alhaji Aminu Maigari
The Nigeria Football Federation has dismissed complaints of the delegation of Kenyan National Football Team, Harambee Stars, that it was not received on arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Wednesday, as pure fiction.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, NFF’s Assistant Director (Media), Ademola Olajire said: “We really didn’t want to be seen to exchange words with the Kenyans on non-existent issues. Nigeria is known to be good hosts at any time and we have not done less for the Kenyan
“Our protocol officials were at the Lagos airport to receive them, and took them to the Silver Grandeur Hotel, which is not a substandard hotel as being claimed.”
Olajire disclosed that the Kenyans were economical with information on their trip to Nigeria: “For more than one week, we sent several mails to the Football Kenya Federation but they refused to respond to any. The NFF was forced to be relating with them through the Kenyan High
Commission in Nigeria.
“Strangely, they arrived with attitude and they have carried on that way. On Thursday, we flew them to Calabar and they were received like royalty, with a performance by a cultural troupe thrown in. Yet, they carried on with complaints about almost everything, including
questioning why the NFF took the match to Calabar.
“A National Association has the prerogative to determine where it would play a home match, as long as that venue meets with FIFA’s requirements. We have made arrangement for them to train at the University of Calabar ground on Thursday evening and at the match
venue on Friday evening, and their accommodation at the Channel View Hotel is perfect.
“We played Namibia in Calabar in an earlier match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification series, and also played against Rwanda and Liberia there. None of these teams had anything to complain about.”
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