Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets were forced to hold their final training session ahead of their opening fixture at the ongoing WAFU B U-17 Championship on a poorly maintained, termite-infested five-a-side pitch in Ouagadougou on Tuesday evening. The Nigerian team had been scheduled to train at the USFA football pitch in the Burkinabe capital.
However, upon arriving at the venue, the delegation discovered that the facility’s owners, USFA, had scheduled a friendly match for the same time allotted for the Eaglets’ training session. As a result, the Nigerian youngsters were directed to use a nearby five-a-side pitch beside the main facility. The alternative venue, however, had a substandard playing surface that was far from ideal for a team preparing for a major international competition.
Efforts by Nigeria’s U-17 team manager, Paul Okwudolor, to contact the championship organisers over the incident proved unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report. The development left the players disappointed, but the technical crew and the team have resolved to put the setback behind them and focus on their opening encounter against Niger Republic on Wednesday.
The Golden Eaglets will face Niger Republic and Côte d’Ivoire in Group B, with their sights set on progressing to the knockout stages of the competition. The WAFU B U-17 Championship serves as a qualifying tournament for next year’s U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, making a strong start crucial to Nigeria’s campaign.