A friendly match scheduled between Nigeria’s Super Falcons and France senior National Women team may have hit the rock after France embassy in Abuja reportedly refused to grant local-based Nigerian players and officials visas, few days to the encounter.
The test match between one of Europeans’ powerhouses in football and Africa’s best Women team was scheduled for next weekend.
Blueprint weekend sports learnt that days after the visas application for submitted to the French embassy, representatives from Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were shocked when they were informed none of the applicants were given go ahead to travel to France.
To make matters worse, some prominent Super Falcons players have refused to give clear assurances which should indicate their readiness for the friendly match.
While a section of them sited health concerns, some of them gave other reason for their unavailability.
Thier non-confirmation led to the real reason why they were excluded from the list of ‘only 17 Players’ named for the France match.
A reliable Source within NFF’s glasshouse who preferred to lie low revealed that after France humiliated Ghana 11-0 in another friendly match earlier, already established Super Falcons professionals who ply their trade in foreign countries won’t want to face similar defeat after about one year of inactivity by the country’s senior national Women team.
Aside WAFU competition which only home-based Women footballers took part, Super Falcons have remained without any game after African Women champion in 2016.
Lack of playing times already dealt a blow on the supposed continental super-power in Women football after they failed to reach final of a sub-regional soccer event tagged WAFU earlier this year.
