The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh has expressed his displeasure over the omission of Nigerian officials amongst those enlisted for the 2023 African Cup of Nations, holding in Cote D’Ivoire next year.
Enoh stated that Nigeria should not be in such a situation, given the country’s population and pedigree in football. He however, promised to hold engagements with relevant bodies related to the matter.
The Minister says “at the last AFCON (2021), Nigeria only had one assistant referee listed amongst the match officials. Two years prior, we didn’t have any centre referee too. Going into the next AFCON, we still won’t have any Nigerian official. I am going to interrogate this matter. We will have engagements with the NFF, the Referees’ Association, the League Board, because we need to get to the bottom of this.”
Senator Enoh believes the development calls for a reflection of the institutional setting within which sports is being administered in the country, without prejudice to the outcome. He assured of his commitment to ensuring that sports across all facets thrives in the country, for Nigeria to stand tall in the comity of nations.
The African Nations Cup is scheduled to hold between January 13 and February 11, 2024, across five cities in Cote D’Ivoire. Nigeria’s Super Eagles topped Group A of the qualifying series to secure qualification to the continental showpiece.
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