Super Eagles supporters Club members cheering the team in a Group A game against Equatorial Guinea
Super Eagles supporters Club members cheering the team in a Group A game against Equatorial Guinea
The Chairman of the Unified Supporters Club of Nigeria, Vincent Okumagba, has narrated what transpired between them and Moroccan police during Wednesday’s semifinal clash between the Super Eagles and hosts, Atlas Lions.
The Super Eagles’ lingering penalty shootout woes resurfaced in Rabat as Morocco booked their place in the Africa Cup of Nations final with a 4–2 shootout victory over Nigeria, following a goalless 120 minutes.
The Super Eagles also lost out to DR Congo on penalties last November during the CAF Play-off for the 2026 World Cup in the same stadium.
Speaking with The Guardian from Rabat yesterday, Okumagba lamented what he described as “poor treatment” meted out to them by Moroccan police at the stadium.
“We got to the stadium with our tickets as early as 5.00 p.m. for the match scheduled for 9.00 p.m. For more than three hours, the stadium police were drilling us in the cold weather, pushing us from one gate to another.
They said that all of us cannot enter and sit in one place, claiming that our tickets did not carry the same gate numbers. They also asked for FAN ID and all manner of things.
“It got to a stage when I had to call the Nigerian man who is working with the Moroccan police inside the stadium. He came, but all his explanations that members of the Supporters Club need to sit in one place fell on deaf ears. They started pushing us, and before we knew what was happening, thousands of Moroccan fans found their way and occupied the seats allocated to us.
“I don’t know why they should ask for a FAN ID when we all travelled to Morocco with our valid visas. Besides that, we have been using our match tickets to watch all the matches. It was hell in Rabat,” he stated.
He alleged that “all that move by the Moroccan police was to disorganise us from sitting in one place to beat our drums and blow our trumpets to ginger the Super Eagles. I won’t blame the Moroccans entirely because they demonstrated their true support for their national team, unlike the situation in Nigeria, when some people will be abusing the players and others throwing bottles of water on them whenever the desired results are not forthcoming during home matches.”
Okumagba, however, expressed his anger over the penalty defeat to Morocco, saying: “It was so sad that we lost on penalties once again at a global tournament. I don’t know the yardsticks behind the choice of defenders as penalty takers when we had attackers. When we survived 120 minutes, I thought we would win the penalty shootout.
Even some Moroccans confessed to me that they nearly died when the match went into a penalty shootout.
“I was shocked to see that what happened during the CAF Play-off last year was repeating itself on Wednesday night. During the Playoff against DR Congo last year, the Congolese were the first to lose in the penalty shootout. We failed to capitalise on it. Again, on Wednesday night, Morocco lost their second kick, but instead of capitalising on it, the Super Eagles went on to lose. It was really painful,” Okumagba stated.
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