Rumbles in Super Eagles camp Musa, Moses, Pinnick At War, Sources Insist

There is indeed a rift between Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) boss, Amaju Pinnick and some senior players of the Super Eagles including Leicester City attacker, Ahmed Musa and Chelsea FC star, Victor Moses. The crisis has been ongoing for a while and it is an open secret among those who are familiar with Nigerian football internal politics.

An impeccable source told this magazine that the antics and some policies of Pinnick are the reasons he is in the black-book of the senior players. The source insisted that a subsequently released video where the NFF boss, Musa and Moses were seen denying any rift was make-believe.

“What happened was that after the match in Cameroon, we realised that the video at the arrival of the airport had already gone viral on social media; and in a bid to keep the team spirit together, the players were persuaded to join Pinnick at the hotel restaurant to record another video, telling their fans that all is well,” our source added.

In the makeup video, Moses said “I don’t know what you guys are talking about, I don’t know what’s going on,” but our source said the reverse is the case.

Another source told this magazine that “if you are privy to the rot and corruption in NFF, then you will understand why many of those players don’t like our sports administrators, and Pinnick is no exception. What you guys saw on that video is just a minor one compared to what we usually witness.”

The first video footage that went viral showed how Musa and Moses shunned Pinnick in Yaounde, Cameroon as the Super Eagles arrived at the Francophone country airport for the second leg of their World Cup qualifier. The match ended 1-1.

The video shows how Musa and Moses deliberately decided not to shake hands with Pinnick, despite shaking everybody other officials beside him. Ogenyi Onazi on the other hand decided to boycott all the officials.

It was Musa that first stepped down from the aircraft and went through the motion of greeting the officials who had come to welcome the Super Eagles, but when he reached the end of the line where Pinnick was standing, Musa moved on as if no one was there.

About six other players followed; all shaking hands with the NFF boss, before Moses appeared. He also moved on without acknowledging the outstretched hand of Pinnick. The video ended as the embittered NFF boss scratched his arm and left the line in order to avoid further embarrassment.