Nigeria Eagles Supporters Club National Chairperson, Bunmi Ogunfunwa, on Saturday said that the Super Eagles were missing the supporters club at the ongoing African Cup of Nations in Egypt due to visa hitch.
Ogunfuwa made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos saying many of the supporters club members were still in Nigeria due to the delay in the issuance of visa to those qualified to cheer the team at the tournament.
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“We didn’t expect this to happen to us. If we knew, we would have applied about two to three months earlier before the competition.
“The criteria for applying for a visa for members going to Egypt by CAF is the match ticket and the Supporters Clubs’ Identity card, but we did not get our tickets until the competition was very close.
“CAF should have come out with a process that is more flexible and devoid of this complexity because I think our Identity Cards should have sufficed for our attendance at the competition.
“This was the criteria used during the last World Cup in Russia, though the competition was just for a month. We were granted six months visa to go in and out of Russia.
“This visa delay has not helped us as supporters club as well as the national team, they must have missed us because our presence was not felt inside the stadium.
“If we are in the stadium, who knows maybe the Super Eagles would have done better in their previous games. Right now, we don’t have enough of our members in Egypt,” she said.
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Ogunfuwa revealed that the Nigeria Eagles supporters club was in the support of the Rafiu Ladipo and Samuel Ikpea-led Nigeria Football Supporters Club.
This article was most recently revised and updated 5 years ago
