Head coach of Nigeria's Under-20 national team, John Obuh has explained the reasons he did not travel with the Flying Eagles to Egypt on Monday for two tune-up games against the junior Pharoahs.
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Reports on Monday claimed that Obuh abandoned the team at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja to press home demands over unpaid wages from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
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The tactician has now moved to clarify the situation as he stated that he was disappointed at the reports.
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"Those who said I abandoned the team are mischievous and reckless in their choice of words.
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They are the people killing Nigerian football," Obuh
said. He further stated that he did not travel with the contingent on Monday because of "family issues."
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"The bottom line is that I had several family issues to sort out and that is that," he said.
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The Flying Eagles will play two warm-up matches against the Egyptian Under-20s on Wednesday and Friday at the Degla Stadium in Cairo as part of their preparations for the 2013 Africa Youth Championships (AYC).
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Egypt, who placed third at the 2011 AYC in South Africa, are drawn in Group A at the 2013 competition, while defending champions, Nigeria, are in Group B.
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The first match on Wednesday will kick off from 2pm Nigerian time, while the second game on Friday at the Salam Stadium will begin from 7pm Nigerian time.
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Nigeria will train at the Cairo International Stadium practice pitch on Tuesday from 2pm before departing Egypt on Saturday for Tunisia for a three-week training stint before they hit Algeria for the African Youth Championship, which kicks off March 16.
The press should leave this man alone to do his job. There should be no distractions whatsoever