Just recently a video of the Nigeria’s Under 20 Women Football team who represented the nation at the ongoing FIFA Under 20 Women World Cup surfaced on the internet where they were seen sleeping on the floor at the Instabul airport in Turkey where they were said to be stranded after crashing out from the tournament.
The video which went viral had caused a stir as millions of Nigerians have lambasted the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for allegedly abandoning the players.
However, reacting to the viral video, the Ministry of Sport and the NFF in a joint statement said;
“The attention of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has been drawn to viral pictures of our female football team, the Falconets making rounds, portraying them stranded at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey.”
“For the reason of setting the records straight, we thought to lay the facts bare. The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the NFF DID NOT book the tickets.”
“The World Cup is a FIFA tournament. FIFA booked tickets for the team to travel from Bogota to Panama, but for some reason, the flight to Panama was delayed for 3 hours.”
“There was another 1-hour delay at the airport in Panama. By the time the team got to Istanbul, the flight to Abuja had left.”
“The NFF officials pleaded that the team be given transit visas at the airport so they could head to a hotel in the town, but this was not possible as Nigeria had been removed from the list of countries granted transit visas at Istanbul Airport.”
“So, the airline took the team to a sleeping area at the airport and handed them the tickets to have meals after every 5 hours.”
“The Minister has reached out to the team via phone and video calls and they will be homebound soon. It is sad, but this has nothing to do with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the NFF, who had made necessary arrangements to receive the team on arrival in Abuja before the flight hitches.”
For those who don’t know, we can tell you for free that the Falconets have arrived Nigeria and they were well received by the Minister of Sport, Sunday Dare who was well represented by his media aide.
