Nigeria's Friendly Against Burkina Faso Cancelled As 7 Players Fail To Secure Visa...

 

The Nigeria vs Burkina Faso friendly match scheduled for Monday night has been cancelled, as seven of Burkina Faso's players couldn't secure visas. The match was due to take place at Barnet FC's Hive Stadium, where Nigeria drew with Senegal 1-1 on Thursday night, but it will now no longer take place.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) released a statement which said: "Seven players in the Burkinabe contingent failed to secure entry visas into the United Kingdom".

The NFF added: "FBF (Burkina Faso Football Federation) sources said the Embassy in Accra told them last week to proceed to Morocco and that the visas would be issued there.

"However, the applications were still pending at the British Embassy in Morocco as at close of work on Friday, the last working day before match day in London.

"The Burkinabe Football Federation - on Friday 24 March 2017 by 7pm UK time - telephoned the match organisers to say some of their players and officials were unable to secure entry visas into the United Kingdom and therefore would not be able to honour the match."

The Super Eagles are currently leading their World Cup qualifying group with six points from two matches.

They face Cameroon in their next qualifier later in the year but will face South Africa first in June in a qualifier for the AFCON 2019, which they have failed to reach for the past two tournaments.