Former
Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju has said the Flying Eagles failure to qualify
for the 2017 Africa U-20 Nations Cup is as a result of the Nigeria Football Federation‘s inability to meet certain financial obligation.
The
team who won the first leg 2-1 a fortnight ago in Omdurman against Sudan,
needed a draw or a victory to seal the ticket but lost the second leg 4-3
(5-5 on aggregate) at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Saturday, to crash
out via the away goal rule.
However,
the ‘Headmaster’ as he was fondly called during his football days told
soccernet.com.ng that the Glass house should share in the blame for not supporting the team financially.
“I
quite agree that the team lost to a better side, however, it’s
unfortunate that the team won’t be taking part in the Africa U-20 Nations Cup
slated for Zambia,” Adepoju told soccernet.com.ng
“Regardless
of the mistakes from the players which made the Sudanese side overturn the
table against Nigeria at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, the Nigeria Football
Federation must also share in the team’s failure considering the fact that they
failed to keep to their financial obligation.”