The friendly match scheduled to hold between Nigeria and Iran at the Azadi Stadium, Tehran, on Wednesday, has been cancelled.
The world football governing body, FIFA, has always tried to dissociate football from politics. But in the cancellation of the supposedly ‘friendly' match between Iran and Nigeria, issues of foreign affairs have definitely impinged on football.
Official sources from both sides have been reluctant to discuss the cancellation, but information on some websites and a member of the Nigeria Football Federation confirmed that indeed the friendly match will not take place.
Nigeria officials told a local website in Nigeria that the unavailability of key players for the Super Eagles due to injuries prompted the cancellation, but the decision has also been seen in the light of cooling diplomatic relations between both countries, based on the interception of a shipment of arms that originated from the Middle-East country that found its way to Nigeria.
A member of the new board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Deji Tinubu, head, marketing department, confirmed to Nextsports that the friendly match between the Nigeria national team against their Iranian counterparts has been called off.
In a terse text message, Mr. Tinubu said, "Unfortunately, friendly cancelled. The reason was because of technical issues beyond our control."
Musa Amadu, the NFF's acting secretary general, also told The Associated Press on Monday that the match in Tehran had been postponed because Nigeria's star footballers were going to be absent on account of injuries.
When asked if the decision was connected to the arms cache seizure in Lagos on October 12 at Apapa ports, Mr. Amadu, tellingly did not outrightly deny a connnection, but instead responded by saying, "it's for you to speculate."
When Nextsports got in touch with Mr. Amadu to try and have a more detailed chat on the issue, he declined to speak, citiing vital emergency issues that needed tending, adding, "Please call me back later."
Abbas Torabian, director of the International Relations Committee of Iran Football Federation, had said last week that there was no problem between both countries.
"Nigeria will travel to Iran with its big football stars. Nigeria's ban from international football has been lifted by FIFA and the Super Eagles have no problem to play Iran," Mr. Torabian had said.
Iran football coach, Afshin Ghotbi, also released a list of 26 players on Saturday night for the friendly match against Nigeria.
Nigeria has just appointed a new coach for the national team, Samson Siasia, and he was supposed to see the team he is inheriting in the Iran match under the tutelage of the interim coach, Augustine Eguavoen. But that opportunity is now gone and he will have to wait till December 1, when he officially resumes as the Eagles' gaffer.
The friendly match was also supposed to be part of Iran's preparation for the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup, to be hosted by Qatar in 2011. They lost to Brazil 3-0 in a friendly held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month.
