The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has apologised to the Federal Government and Nigerians for the Super Eagles’ failure at the ongoing African Nations Championship (Chan) in Rwanda.
The Eagles led the group before kick-off of the final group matches on Tuesday but failed to fly in a 0-1 loss to Guinea in Rubavu that eliminated the side from the continental party in Rwanda.
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 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 do not win.
“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 Obaroakpo 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,” said Pinnick to www.thenff.com.
The Eagles have a quick top-of-the-table double against the Pharaohs of Egypt in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying race with the first leg in Nigeria on March 23 and the return leg in Egypt five days later.
In June the Eagles take on Chad in N’Djamena before hosting Tanzania in the final round of matches in September.
Support InfoStride News' Credible Journalism: Only credible journalism can guarantee a fair, accountable and transparent society, including democracy and government. It involves a lot of efforts and money. We need your support. Click here to Donate