World Cup: Nigeria Supporters Club to Abandon Last Group Match Over Poor Treatment

Members of the Nigeria Football Supporters
Club (NFSC) may not watch the final Group
F match
between Nigeria and Argentina in Porto
Alegre at the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup
in Brazil.

The club's members had complained of poor
treatment FIFA and the Local Organising
Committee
meted out to them in the previous matches
played by the Super Eagles.

They complained that FIFA and the Local
Organising Committee denied them going
into the stadium with their musical
instruments and their branded wears.

For more than four decades, members of the
club have been attending major
international football tournaments to cheer
the national teams.
Rafiu Oladipo, the president of the club,
told NAN after the match between Nigeria
and Bosnia-Hezergovina on Sunday that the
denial was a surprise to them.

According to him, the club began its
activities in 1977 and its efforts have been
greatly acknowledged by the world football
governing body, FIFA at various times.

``The past 37 years have been rewarding,
but a sad twist seems to be hindering the
club from performing its function in Brazil.

``This is very strange and we have to tackle
it with everything at our disposal to avoid a
repeat because if you separate music
from football, there is nothing left for the
fans,” he said.

Oladipo noted that the members were also
prevented from dishing out the usual
inspirational songs to back the Eagles while
playing.

``The club members in their hundred
travelled to Brazil to cheer the national
team at the World Cup, wearing uniforms
with the symbol of their sponsor, Globacom.

``The organisers, however, disallowed them
into the stadium event with the uniform
they were wearing,'' he said.
He added that the LOC gave security reasons
for disallowing the supporters club from
going into the stadium with their drums
and trumpets.

The organisers had said that the musical
instruments could convert into projectiles.

But furious Oladipo accused the security
officials of working against the interest of
the Nigerian team in Brazil.

``This excuse is not tenable. This is like
playing double standards in one
competition.

``The Nigerian supporters club is not
known for violence and this is not our first
World Cup appearance.

``We have been doing this as our
contribution to the game of football, not
only in Nigeria, but also in Africa and the
world.

``We have been doing this for decades and
for FIFA security committee to wake up all
of a sudden to stop us from wearing our
uniforms and beating our drums and
blowing our trumpets is not the best,’’
Oladipo said.

Some members of the club condemned the
decision of FIFA and the overzealous
security officials for the treatment
meted out to the members of the club in
Curitiba.

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