Oliseh, NFF Apologise To Nigerians For CHAN ‘Embarrassment’

The Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh has tendered unreserved apology to Nigerians for the team’s early ouster in the ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament in Rwanda.


Nigeria failed to progress beyond the first round after losing 1-0 to the Syli Nationale Stars of Guinea in their last Group C match at Rubavu in Rwanda.

According to statement credited to Oliseh on NFF’s twitter handle, the former Super Eagles captain said it was against their plans to exit the tournament early

“We apologize to Nigerians for this loss, we never planned to exit the tournament this early. The boys gave their best,” Oliseh wrote on Twitter shortly after the game.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has also apologized to the Federal Government and Nigerians for the team’s failure to progress to the next stage of the competition.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick reiterated that the African Nations Championship is “both developmental and preparatory for bigger challenges,” and said without mincing words that the football federation would now shift focus to the qualification race for the bigger Africa Cup of Nations.

“We apologise to Nigerians for the poor outing of the Super Eagles in Rwanda, but we toe the line of CAF which states that CHAN is a developmental and preparatory competition. Of course, as Nigerians, we love to win always, and we feel bad when we don’t.

“I want us to take the positives from this tournament. A player like Chisom Chikatara broke onto the global platform and players like Usman Mohammed, Chima Akas, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Austin Oboroakpo and Ifeanyi Mathew confirmed their class.

“For me, it is disappointing that we did not progress. But the NFF will now focus on the 2017 AFCON qualifiers, and start preparations early for the remaining rounds,” Pinnick assured.