Nigeria’s flag bearers in the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup, Dolphins FC, were bundled out of the competition in ignominy on Saturday as the team arrived late for a first round, first leg match against Club Africain in Tunis.
Reports from the Tunisian capital revealed that the Garden City boys did not arrive at the match venue by the 3pm kick-off time and were duly walked over by the match officials from Ethiopia.
Dolphins’ ignominious ejection is a sad reminder of how Heartland FC of Owerri was thrown out of the same competition two years ago, when the team arrived late for a first leg fixture in Gabon.
Officials claimed that players refused to board an Emirates Airline flight from Lagos on Thursday night, protesting unpaid wages.
And though they eventually traveled by the same airline on Friday afternoon, the connecting flight from Dubai did not arrive Tunis in good time for the team to reach the stadium before the approved kick-off time.
Warri Wolves FC, Nigeria’s other team in the competition, defeated Dedebit of Ethiopia 2-0 in Warri on Saturday.
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