The Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) has cleared the air over the national anthem incident that occurred in the game between Nigeria and Benin Republic.
The organisers played the Nigerian old national anthem at the beginning of the match, which was played at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on Monday, June 10, 2024. According to the NFF, the new national anthem which was passed into law on May 29, 2024, was handed over to the Football Association of Benin Republic but they mistakenly played the old one.
The statement read as follows,
“We gave them the recording of our new national anthem, only for them to play the wrong one at the beginning of the match. We protested strongly, and insisted that the Super Eagles would not start the second half until the new national anthem of Nigeria was played.”
The Eagles lost the match 2-1 to the Benin Republic, Raphael Onyedika gave Nigeria the lead before Jodel Dossou and Steve Mounie turned defeat to victory for the Cheetahs.
The result puts Nigeria fifth in the group with three points from four games ahead of Zimbabwe who have a game in hand.
Get your Latest Sports News and Get Fresh updates as they drop via Twitter and Facebook
