AFCON 2015: NFF sorry over Eagles failure

The leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF on Wednesday apologised to the federal government of Nigeria and Nigerians in general for the failure of the Super Eagles failure to qualify for the final of the AFCON 2015 holding in Equatorial Guinea in January.

In a communique made available to the Daily Sunsports by NFF’s Assistant Director (Communications), Ademola Olajire,   at the end of the executive committee meeting held at the Venus Hotel & Suites in Uyo, Wednesday night stated that NFA Chairman, Amaju Pinnick, apologised not qualifying for the 30th Africa Cup of Nations finals in Equatorial Guinea. The Board resolved collectively to accept full responsibility for the mishap and called for patience and understanding of Nigerians while it pursued the cause of building a sustainable football culture for the country, and also work hard at engineering a resurgence of the National Teams through well –thought programmes and processes.
The Super Eagles, who are the reigning African champions played 2-2 draw with visiting South Africa in a must win match on Wednesday.
The inability of the Super Eagles to qualify meant that they would not be able to defend the title they won in 2013.
“The NFA takes full responsibility for what has happened. It is a tragedy for us to come so near and yet fail to reach the finals.
“We made so much effort and sacrifice in Congo to achieve the victory we needed there on Saturday and really had no business bungling it here,” it stated.
It stated that NFA’s desire was to build a sustainable football culture in the country, but expressed regrets that nothing had changed.
“This, though is a disappointment, but for us, we gave it our best shot and supported the team fully,” Pinnick was quoted as saying to NAN. He, however, expressed optimism that Wednesday’s failure could turn out to be blessing in disguise.
“All things work together for good for those that love God. “This has happened but we believe it will work together for us to toil hard and achieve a renaissance that will take Nigeria football to much higher heights than it has ever been.
“I use this opportunity to thank the Akwa Ibom State Government for all the support they gave the team and the assistance they offered the NFA.