CAF Should Postpone AFCON Qualifiers- Nigeria

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is seeking the postponement of their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Seychelles next Match till the end of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The move by the NFF is to allow the Super Eagles play a top friendly match in March, being the only remaining FIFA window before the World Cup kicks off in June next year.

Toyin Ibitoye, the Super Eagles media officer, who said this in an interview on Monday, noted that Amaju Pinnick, the NFF President, has raised the possibility of moving the Nation Cup qualifiers from March so that World Cup bound teams could use the window to perfect their preparations.




According to Ibitoye, Pinnick’s argument, “was since the AFCON is in 2019, there’s no harm in shifting the qualifiers till after the World Cup in July. This is a brilliant suggestion and, for me, one of the gains of having him in CAF at that level.
“His suggestion will be tabled at the CAF Executive Committee meeting very soon and we hope they approve it so that we can play a friendly match in March.

“I think it will be a smart move if CAF can adopt Pinnick’s recommendation on using the March window for World Cup preparations instead of playing AFCON qualifiers for a tournament that will be held in 2019.

“If you must do well at the World Cup then you must prepare well and to prepare well, you must play the best teams. Argentina is one of the very best.”

Pinnick’s reason for seeking the postponement, according to Ibitoye was that the March FIFA window, “we have to wait till the end of the season in May to get the team together again.”

Source: Independent