Pinnick Blames Ref For Eagles Fall In Cotonou

President of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has attributed Nigeria’s 1-0 defeat to Benin Republic in a CHAN 2018 first leg qualifier to poor officiating.

Benin Republic got the win via an 89th minute penalty converted by their skipper Seibou Mama following a foul by Azeez Aremu.

Pinnick, who was at the Stade de l’amite with League Management Company (LMC) Chairman Shehu Dikko, stated that he has taken up the issue with the appropriate body following the manner Algerian referee Mustapha Ghorbal handled the game.

CHAN 2018

The NFF boss, however, expressed confidence that the home-based Eagles will still qualify for the 2018 CHAN despite the setback.

He said, “I believe we will do our best on the second leg in Kano,” Pinnick told Complete Sports after the game.

“But I can say emphatically that the officiating was very poor and the turf too affected our game but we will be able to overcome those two challenges in the next game and qualify. By God’s grace we are going to work hard to make sure we qualify.

“The officiating was very poor and I have notified the authorities concerning it.”