The Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, has rubbished claims that the Video Assistant Referee, VAR, equipment for the March 26 World Cup qualifier against Ghana had been stolen.
The crowd got violent at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja after the Black Stars drew one-all with the Nigerian Super Eagles and saw Ghana book a spot at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar at the expense of their hosts.
Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, General Secretary of the NFF told the media that the reports were untrue because the equipment had been sent back to FIFA.
“There has also been an outlandish report that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) equipment that was installed for the match had been stolen. We initially thought this was an April Fool prank but it is alarming that some media outlets are taking it seriously”.
“Nothing of such happened. The VAR equipment remains intact and has been returned to the FIFA office in Zurich, Switzerland by Sebastian Runge, FIFA’s Head of Technology.”
Sanusi added: “The NFF understands that Nigerians in their generality were sorely disappointed by the result of the match, which came short of having the Super Eagles at the World Cup.
“It is a painful situation for everyone, including ourselves at the Federation. However, we are appealing that the propensity for half-truths and outright falsehood be discouraged. We believe that the present squad of Super Eagles is still capable of achieving great things.”