Alhaji Aminu Maigari, President of Nigeria Football Federation, has taken a swipe against the Malian Football Federation for allegedly parading ‘old men’ as teenagers against the Golden Eaglets in Sunday’s 2013 Under-17 African Junior Championship qualifier in Calabar, Cross River State.
Maigari, a member of the Confederation of African Football Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship, said the action of the Malian FA is inimical to the overall development of football on the continent, adding that the NFF would follow the protest against the eligibility of such clearly over-aged players in a cadet competition to a conclusive end.
“I was ashamed of the Malian FA when I saw their players and it was glaring that these are not Under-17 players,” a clearly angry Maigari said after a hard-won 2-0 victory by the Nigerian youngsters. “This Malian team that was paraded against the Golden Eaglets could pass off as the senior national team of Mali but it is good that we beat them fairly here.”
The NFF president said he was confident that the Golden Eaglets would eventually qualify ahead of the Malians even as he has requested CAF to be vigilant to the despicable attitude of some of its affiliated countries.
He said: “I want to urge all African football federation to desist from the shameless attitude of the Malian FA because it would jeopardize the future of the game on the continent on the long run.
“I believe CAF would look at the merit of our case because this is just not a healthy competition.”
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