AFCON qualifier: 16 players in camp as Gov Udom slashes gate fee

No fewer than 16 players were at the Super Eagles’ camp in Uyo for the first training session on Tuesday evening ahead of this weekend’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against the Mediterranean Knights of Libya.

The first training session was held at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo venue of the game against group leaders Libya.

Those in the camp at the time of this report are stand-in captain Ahmed Musa, Alex Iwobi, Leon Balogun, Jamilu Collins, Chidozie Awaziem, Ola Aina, Shehu Abdullahi, William Troost-Ekong, Daniel Akpeyi, Kenneth Omeruo, Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, Henry Onyekuru, Eddy Onazi and Isaac Success as well as goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa, who has recovered from the injury he sustained against Kano Pillars in the Aiteo Cup last Sunday.

As at the time of this report, Bryan Idowu, John Ogu, Odion Ighalo, Kelechi Iheanacho and Francis Uzoho were also on the verge of joining their teammates in the camp.

Meanwhile, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has slashed the admission fee by 50 per cent.

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Senior Special Assistant to the governor on sports, Elder Paul Bassey disclosed this while interacting with sports journalists in Uyo.

As a result of this development, the ticket to the popular stands in the stadium attracts N500 against the initial N1000 while those wish to watch the game from the VIP stands would have to pay N1,000 as against the initial N2,000 fee. The tickets, organisers say would be available for sale later in the week.

Bassey stated that the gesture of the governor is to enable a large number of fans to come out en masse on Saturday to cheer the Eagles to victory.

“Governor Emmanuel is a passionate sports lover and he has demonstrated it in the huge investments he has made in sports development in the state. His gesture of subsidising the prices of tickets for the match is to ensure more fans turn up to watch the game live while supporting the senior national team to victory on Saturday,” Bassey, who is also the boss of Akwa United, a Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) said.