Eagles Reject Iran, Hong Kong Friendlies

AllAfrica - The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has shunned offers for friendly matches tabled by Iran and Hong Kong. The matches would have been played in Tehran and Hong Kong.

NFA Secretary General Taiwo Ogunjobi, who has been sent on a compulsory leave by the NFA Board, said the decision to spurn the offers was at the instance of the Eagles, who said the venues were too far.

Nigeria will be meeting Gabon next month in Port Harcourt in a must win World Cup 2006 qualifying match

In Ogunjobi's opinion the Nigerian federation declined the offers because of the hitches that will be encountered in assembling the players for matches of such nature.

"Aside the players asking not be considered because of the distance, European clubs are always not disposed to releasing players for not more than three days. We weighed the option of camping at a central location in Europe where it is easy to organise a series of matches"î he said.

Had the Glass House accepted to honour the invitations it would have meant flying the players almost 10 hours from Europe to the Middle East and almost twice that to get them to honour the engagement in the Far East.

Long distance travels during the hectic European season have always been a sour point with club managers. Before Korea/Japan 2002 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had tried to block his French players - Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry - from following Les Blues for a friendly game in Australia complaining that they would be jet lagged on their return.

The only previous meeting between Nigeria and Iran was in December 1997 during a pre France 1998 build up in the four-nations Carlsberg Cup, which ended with a victory in favour of Nigeria at the tournament.

Incidentally while a number of countries including some from Africa will be playing friendlies tomorrow, Nigeria as usual will be spectators. Senegal and Cameroon, will for instance be re-enacting the final of the Mali 2002 Nations Cup, when they meet in France tomorrow night.

Tunisa was also suposed to have played a friendly with Turkey in Istanbul tomorrow, but it has to be called off due to bad weather in the Eastern European countr,which incidentally is also hosting the UEFA/CAF Meridian competition, in which the Golden Eaglets are taking part.