Post election violence in the West African country became a serious worry for Etoile officials whose efforts to appeal to CAF for a postponement were first met with understanding and then a bizarre refusal.
Houssein Jnayeh, the director of Etoile’s first team, spoke to Mosaique FM and explained that although many CAF officials initially agreed that continental matches shouldn’t be played in Nigeria at the moment, him and his colleagues were shocked to see their attitudes change within 24 hours when it was officially decided that the fixture would be maintained.
However, Etoile made all the necessary arrangements to travel but pulled out when they received a fax from the Tunisian ambassador in Nigeria which made it abundantly clear that the conditions on the ground were not at all favorable for a football match and that there was a strong chance that there would be grave incidents if the game went forward.
“In the last chapter of this saga, we received an official diplomatic from the Tunisian ambassador in Nigeria through the Tunisian Minister of Exterior and the Ministry of Youth and Sports that it isn’t possible, and that we shouldn’t consider the trip no matter what the fines or possible sporting sanctions are. This was said explicitly,” he explained.
“They said there was close to a 90 percent chance that we’d suffer casualties during our trip to Nigeria if we went at the moment. The American embassy said the same thing. Add to that the resignation of the Nigerian Minister of Interior yesterday, the lack of safety, the number of killed and wounded, and the chaos. We just couldn’t take such a risk.”
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Etoile Cancel Nigeria Trip Due To Security Fears