The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has officially imposed sanctions of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), specifically the Nigerian senior national men’s team, the Super Eagles for fans misconduct during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 play-off second leg against Ghana at the Moshood Abiola sports staidum in Abuja in March.
Nigeria failed to qualify to the world Cup in Qatar after being held to a 1-1 drawn game in Abuja following a Thomas Partey goal for Ghana, which aided the Black Stars to qualify to the World Cup with an away goal advantage ahead of the Super Eagles.
After the match on March 29 at the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abuja, home fans who were disappointed with the results invaded the pitch after the match, causing lots of mayhem. FIFA has imposed one game ban to the fans, meaning Nigeria would have to play behind closed doors after being found guilty of breaching Article 16 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
In its ruling, FIFA cited “Order and security at matches (failure to implement existing safety rules and failure
to ensure that law and order are maintained in the stadium, invasion of the field of
play and throwing of objects” as the incident for which the punishment is being served on Nigeria.
Nigeria has accordingly been fined CHF 150 000 (154,098.90 United States Dollar), in addition to one game to be played without fans at the stadium.
