The Nigeria Football Federation’s president, Amaju Pinnick, has denied reports that he was in London to primarily watch the Chelsea play against his favourite club, Arsenal on Sunday.
According to him, his trip to London over the weekend was to seal partnership deals that will help move Nigerian football forward.
Pinnick released this disclaimer after some quarters accused him of feeding the Super falcons to the wolves while he was away to see his darling foreign club, Arsenal play Chelsea on Sunday in the community shield title.
The nation’s senior national women’s team crashed out of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games on Sunday after losing to Equatorial Guinea.
The NFF president was spotted at the Wembley for the Community Shield on a day two of Nigeria’s teams were in action.
However, Pinnick took to his Twitter account to clear the air insisting that he was in London for business.
The Warri-born football administrator through his twitter handle @PinnickAmaju said the fans got it wrong this time, insisting he was only on a business trip to finalise some sponsorship deals for Nigeria.
“Hello all, no doubt I am an Arsenal fan but I will never relegate my calling at NFF for Arsenal,” he said.
“When Arsenal was playing against Manchester some months ago, I was on the road to Ibadan to watch 3SC against Rangers. My vision about my mission in NFF is clear and by God’s Grace, we shall get there.
“I came into London for meetings with a consortium of would-be sponsors, some requested to see the Head Coach.
“Aside that, there are a lot of global politics going on and if Nigeria must be accorded her pride of place in global football politics, then we must participate at the highest level. I appeal for your understanding and prayers, nothing good comes easy.”
While Pinnick was away, the Nigeria’s senior women’s team, Super Falcons, lost 2-1 to Equatorial Guinea and missed out on the 2016 Olympics, the national U-23 team battled to a 0-0 in Congo to move to the next stage of the Olympics qualifiers.