Nigeria Refused Swapping Shirts With Mali

It was a dishonourable sight in France Friday night when players of Nigeria Super Eagles could not exchange jerseys with their Malian counterparts after their friendly.


With president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick in the crowd in Rouen, the Mali players were shocked when the Super Eagles rejected overtures for them to swap jerseys after the match in Rouen.

It was later gathered that Nigeria do not have enough kits and that was why they could not exchange jerseys.

“There are not enough kits for the team and so it’s wash your jersey and wear it for the next game for the Super Eagles,” a source said.

It has been gathered that the NFF have had to buy additional kits in the open market as they have long overshot the quota for the year agreed with kit sponsors Nike.

Last year, a rushed sponsorship with Nike meant the equipment suppliers had to reproduce the kits they designed for Saudi Arabi for three-time African champions Nigeria.

Nigeria U23 coach Samson Siasia described his team as "wash-and-wear" during last year's U23 AFCON in Senegal as they battled for kits for the Rio Olympics qualifiers.

Both officials of Nike and NFF have promised newly designed kits for the Eagles in February, but this has yet to happen many months later.