UNFAIR PLAY: Igiebor Sustains Injury in Ethiopia Fans Attack.

Real Betis midfielder Nosa Igiebor was the victim of angry Ethiopia fans attack on the Super Eagles bus, following Sunday’s 2-1 defeat of the ‘Walyas Antelopes’ in Addis Ababa.

According to reports gathered at the end of the three-day visit to Ethiopia, the attack capped off a series of ill-treatment melt out on the visiting team throughout their stay in the East African nation’s capital.


Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) vice-president Mike Umeh says the incident has been reported to the Fifa security team at the match venue, while Eagles security officer, Baba Abubakar, has also informed the Ethiopian Police as well.

Fans hauled stones at the team bus after Ethiopia lost the first-leg World Cup playoff tie to Nigeria, and one of the heavy ones shattered the rear windscreen of the bus, sending all inside the vehicle ducking for safety.

A Rowdy Session of Ethiopia Fans Gathered on the Street to Cheer Their Team.

Shattered glasses slashed Igiebor’s right palm, leading to profuse bleeding, which the team doctor, Ibrahim Gyaran, immediately attended to.

Nosa Igiebor Was a Second-half Substitute in the Sunday Encounter.

The head of the Nigerian delegation to Ethiopia, Aminu Maigari, returned to the country early Monday morning at about 4:30am to report the team’s ordeal.

The Eagles were given a cockroach-infested bus on arrival on Saturday, while the policemen attached to the team intentionally took the Nigerians along a traffic-jammed route on the way to their training ground.

Matters turned worse on matchday as the desperate Ethiopians, against the spirit of fairplay, threw different sorts of bottles at the Nigerian players and supporters, when Godfrey Obaobona cleared Salhadin Said’s effort off the touchline in the first-half.

Every attempt to disorient the African champions eventually failed as Eagles succeeded in carting away with a respectable three point on the nick of full time.