Eight Countries Absent As African Minifootball Cup Kicks Off In Nigeria

Eight Countries Absent As African Minifootball Cup Kicks Off In Nigeria By Niyi Busari Ibadan, the largest city in West Africa will be agoged today as the second edition of African Minifootball Cup Kicks off at the Ilaji Hotels and Resorts, Akanran. While the venue of the competition looks ready for the games, eight countries however have withdrawn from participating in the biennial tournament. According to the organiser, the countries withdrew from participating from the competition in Nigeria because there is high rate of Coronavirus cases, hence, their respective governments stopped them from coming into Nigeria. No doubt, their absent will surely affect the fixtures released As at Thursday morning, the kick off day, only eight countries which includes, the host, Nigeria, Libya, Ghana, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Benin Republic and Senegal are at the Ilaji Hotels and Resorts. Confirming this to BSN Sports, the Secretary General of Nigeria Minifootball Association, David Adewoye said, "Nigeria with other Seven other countries are already at the venue of the competition. Those countries that missed out said they opted out because their governments instructed them not to because Nigeria has high rate of Coronavirus cases." With this, Nigeria will have another opponent in the Minifootball African Nations Cup opener as Djibouti was one of the eight countries that withdrew. The eight countries are: Djibouti, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia, Somalia, Zambia, Algeria and Gabon. The best Five countries from the competition will represent Africa in the 2021 Minifootball World Cup. Meanwhile, the organiser will address the media on the new development at the Ilaji Hotels and Resorts at 12 noon today.