The Super Falcons of Nigeria arrived Abuja in the early hours of Saturday to a welcome message from the Nigeria Football Federation stating it will no longer tolerate any act of indiscipline or misconduct on the part of any player or coach of any of the National Teams.
General Secretary of the Federation Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, who received the Falcons , reiterated the Federation’s stance on indiscipline said, “that the message is an important one for everyone to take home' Sanusi added that “The NFF, like other Nigerians, is not happy that you could not make it beyond the group stage of the competition. Sincerely speaking, the NFF believed Canada 2015 was the opportunity for you to show how much progress has been made in women’s football in Nigeria,” .
However the unhappiness is not just about their elimination, it’s also about an acquired bad reputation of indiscipline rooted in Ugo Njoku being given a three-match ban for elbowing Australia’s Sam Kerr in their Women’s World Cup Group D match.
As reflected in the match against the USA, that singular act by Njoku obviously changed the perception of some referees towards Nigeria. Kateryna Monzul of Ukraine who was at the center in their final group game against the illustrious Stars and Stripes of USA did not hesitate in dishing out yellow cards to Nigerian players and Sarah Nnodim eventually got sent off after receiving a second yellow, meanwhile no USA player was booked.
Sanusi however, assured that the Federation “will continue to provide enabling environment for all National Teams, including the Falcons, to excel at international fronts, through adequate preparation and robust welfare packages.”
The team is expected to go on a two weeks break break before resuming camp for next month’s Rio 2016 Olympics qualifying fixture against Equatorial Guinea.
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