U20 World Cup: Gusau, Sanusi In Mecca As Flying Eagles, Falconets Yet To Resume Camping

U20 World Cup: Gusau, Sanusi In Mecca As Flying Eagles, Falconets Yet To Resume Camping

By Niyi Busari

BSN Sports can reveal that the President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, and General Secretary, Sanusi Mohammed are now in Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj), as both Flying Eagles and Falconets are yet to know the date to start preparations ahead of their international competitions.

While the Flying Eagles will participate in the 2023 FIFA U20 Men's World Cup, the Falconets on the other hand will compete for the WAFU Women's U20 Championship in Ghana.

Sanusi Mohammed had last Sunday in an exclusive interview with BSN Sports promised that both teams (Falconets and Flying Eagles) will begin their camping exercise in Abuja before this weekend.

Based on this, this writer has gone around the training pitches at the Moshood Abiola Stadium Packages A and B in Abuja and also visited the hotels where national teams are always camped but was disappointed that none of these teams have resumed their training exercise.

A source from the NFF who confirmed that both NFF bigwigs are in Saudi Arabia for Umrah revealed that the Flying Eagles won't be in camp until the Golden Eaglets leave Abuja for their European tour of Germany next weekend ahead of the CAF U17 African Nations Cup.

"You know that the federation needs to manage funds and with that in mind the Flying Eagles won't commence preparation for the World Cup until the Golden Eaglets travel next weekend," the source exclusively revealed to BSN Sports.

But I don't know when the U20 women's national team will start. He added.

Another source who was in Egypt during the CAF U20 AFCON quoted Gusau to have promised that Flying Eagles would resume camping in the first week of April for proper and adequate preparation ahead of the U20 Mundial.

 "While we were in Egypt at the CAF U20 AFCON, when the NFF President visited the team, he promised that Flying Eagles will start camping in the first week of April but till now nothing like that has happened.

The source added, "The Flying Eagles players and officials have not been paid any money for winning the WAFU B championship, their participation fees at the just concluded CAF U20 AFCON, and also compensation for picking the World Cup ticket. But the NFF Board members who led the team to these competitions have received their monies.

"How can such a team perform wonders at the World Cup when all other teams that will participate in the same competition have been in camp for more than one month, some teams are on training tours to acclimatize with the weather."

Though a host of the competition has not yet been named after FIFA stripped Indonesia of the hosting rights, however, the FIFA U20 World Cup is scheduled to kick off on Saturday 20th May, and ends Sunday 11th June 2023.

While Falconets are in the dark regarding their resumption date, the WAFU U20 women's championship will commence on Saturday 20th May and ends on 4th June 2023.