The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has blamed the bureaucracy at the Moroccan ports for Super Falcons’ resort to their old kit and improvised equipment at the ongoing Morocco 2025 African Women’s Cup of Nations.
The Super Falcons won Group B of the championship to qualify for the quarterfinals of the competition, but Nigerians were alarmed when pictures of the girls wearing their old kit, personal clothing and even using improvised shin guards in Morocco.
The NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, has explained that the federation’s kit partner, Nike duly supplied the official tournament gear, adding that they were stuck at the Moroccan ports.
According to a soccernet.ng report, Gusau explained that the NFF’s agreement with Nike was for the tournament’s gear to be sent to the venue of the tournament.
He said: “The consignment of the kit is in Casablanca, and stuck with Moroccan customs. DHL tried to sort it out and see how they could get the kit to the players’ hotel (but without success). I was in Rabat to meet with FRMF (Morocco FA) officials and discuss how they can assist us in distributing the kit.
“I can show you the invoice that was sent to DHL, which we are working on, to ensure that the kit is immediately released. Every country has its processes. Sometimes you find them easy and sometimes you find them cumbersome. Within a couple of days, everything will be sorted out.”
He admitted that the kit only arrived in Morocco two days after Nigeria’s opening match against Tunisia, saying: “The kit arrived on Monday, I think. It’s an issue of logistics. The kit was sent a little bit late. And sometimes, the coaches have to make a decision.
There are certain kits meant for particular people, and we have to get the right sizes. It is only when we get those sizes that we fill out the particular forms for Nike, to get the kit that we will use for a tournament like this. But if the kit had arrived on Monday, all these issues would not have been there.”
With Morocco also hosting the men’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) later this year, Gusau admitted lessons have been learned from this episode.
“We are discussing at a high level with Nike. Some of their officials will be in Morocco on Sunday and will be with the team to watch some of the matches, for two or three days, and see how they can fix some of these problems,” Gusau said.
