The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has approved for the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, to have only 5,000 spectators at next week’s FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Liberia.
The NFF’s Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, said in a statement on Friday in Abuja that NFF had applied to have 12,000 spectators at the venue of the match.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the match, a Match Day 1 fixture in the qualifying competition, is scheduled for the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
“As it is known, we would like to reiterate that the CAF and FIFA COVID-19 match protocols clearly state that all matches must be played behind closed doors.
“Nonetheless, CAF analysed and assessed NFF request from a medical, stadium requirements compliance, and safety & security perspective in the venue.
“Accordingly, a decision has been taken to exceptionally allow the presence of 5,000 spectators in the aforementioned match,” CAF wrote in the letter signed by Raul Chipenda, Development Director.
NAN
