Angry Nigerian fans in Russia have accused the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) of selling the tickets allocated to Nigeria by FIFA to Nigeria to Argentines in the crunch match against the South Americans.
They asked the NFF’s Director of Competition, Bola Oyeyode after the game two days ago. The fans believed the Argentine supporters were seated at locations allocated to Nigeria, and they could only have bought tickets from the Nigerian Football.
Mr. Oyeyode denied the claims as false and said no member of NFF would descend to such lows. The Nigerians were annoyed because many of them were forced to watch the game from their hotel rooms after they were unable to get tickets, only to see the Argentines seated in spaces which were allocated to them.
Mr Oyeyode might have denied the allegations, but there are whispers from some quarters of the Football house accusing other members, especially those close to the NFF President Amaju Pinnick, of selling the tickets for as high as $1200.
Speaking to the Guardian, a top Official of the NFF said: ” “I was shocked to see some of the people selling match tickets just to make some quick money before their final journey back home. Majority of the tickets eventually found their way in the hands of Argentine fans who were ready to pay as much as $1,500 or $2,000 per ticket. That was the reason for many Argentine fans inside the stadium, while a majority of the Nigerian who should have used the tickets were forced to watch the match from their hotel rooms. It was a big scandal. The blame is on Amaju”
He further stated that the NFF president wass misusing his power for personal gain.
“Again, Pinnick used his power as president of the NFF to give higher estacode among the contingent. He paid some state FA chairmen $3,000, while some got $4,500. That was outside the $300 that was given to them on arrival. We had two secretaries from each of the geo-political zones, and the amount they got varied from one another. Some got $2,000, while others were secretly paid $3,000, depending on how influential you are in the congress. We had many problems here because of Pinnick’s ambition to return for second tenure. He was operating a divide and rule system. In anyway, no NFF president had survived two tenure, so Amaju must go.”
The Super Eagles crashed out of the world cup after losing to a Messi inspired Argentina by two goals to one. They are due to arrive in Nigeria today.