The protest which almost cost Nigeria a spot in the final match of the ongoing WAFU B African U17 Nations Cup Qualifiers tournament was actually instigated by Nigeria’s opponent in tomorrow’s final game.
Owngoalnigeria.com gathered officials from the U17 team of Ghana approached their counterparts from Niger Republic immediately after Nigeria dumped the host nation out of the tournament with a 2-1 win in the semi-final.
They succeeded in convincing officials of the Niger Republic team that a Nigerian player who was paraded by Nigeria played with an expired passport. Niger responded by filing a protest against the said player.
However, their protest was thrown out as lacking in merit as they failed to prove that he was ineligible for the tournament and he didn’t take part in the game that led to their protest, Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered.
It means the Ghanaians who were hoping to avoid the free scoring Nigerian team will now face the boys of Manu Garba tomorrow for the sole ticket to represent the zone at next year Africa U17 Championship in Tanzania.
Ade Emmanuel
