WAFU B U20 Tourney: Shame As Flying Eagles Spend One Week In Camp Without Kits

  WAFU B U20 Tourney: Shame As Flying Eagles Spend One Week In Camp Without Kits By Niyi Busari The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, owes Nigerians explanation as regards the kind of deal it sealed with the American based Nigeria national teams kits manufacturer, Nike, as players of the U20 national team were seen with different colour and pattern of kits in training at the FIFA Goal Project, Package B, MKO Abiola Stadium. BSN Sports reports that the Flying Eagles resumed camping last Wednesday in preparation for the WAFU Zone B championship billed to hold in Togo from November 14th to 29th, 2020.  Seeing players of the Nigeria national team coming to training with their personal kits when Nike just released a newly designed  kit for the national teams in October shows that the NFF fail to build on success achieved in the last designed kits in 2018. Before the Pinnick-led NFF Board came into office, big bag filled with kits was always placed in hotel rooms waiting to be picked up by each player invited into camp but this scenario has suddenly left us as kits have become scarce commodity for national team players. Since their resumption into Abuja camping, the team had played two friendly matches and the kits worn in their first warm-up game against KCG Academy which they won 5-0 were washed, dried and worn again for the second friendly game against Triple 44 Football Club. Recycling of kits in the Nigeria national team camp has become a norm since 2015 when the present Board were elected and one thinks, Nigeria does not place herself where it belongs with this shambolic, shameful deal. The Amaju Pinnick-led NFF first entered a deal with Nike in April 2015 from which four different kits have been designed. In continuance of the successful deal, both parties signed on for another four years until 2022. According to Pinnick, following success recorded in the kits unveiled, Nike is the one chasing Nigeria for contract renewal according. If this is true, then the NFF should be in best position to include in the new contract the increase in supply of kits for Nigeria national teams. “Today, we are happy we teamed up with NIKE because after we qualified and participated at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, the company was the one chasing us for a new improved contract,” President of NFF, Pinnick said. And until they are bothered with the welfare of players, they will not know how much damage this does to the image of Nigeria. If the NFF president, Amaju Pinnick is passionate about the development of Nigeria football and success of the age-grade national teams, he would have had a three-minute trek to the training ground of the Flying Eagles on Tuesday evening when he visited Sunday Dankaro House at  the time their training session was on and see for himself how the Flying Eagles players look like wearing different colour and maker of kits. The seven time African champions are drawn in group B alongside Ghana and Ivory Coast. The group winner will qualify for the 2021 CAF U20 African Nations Cup.