WATCHING ARSENAL BEAT CHELSEA:
Pinnick blasts critics


The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick has hit back at critics who attacked him for choosing to travel to England to watch the Community Shield game between Arsenal and Chelsea even when various national teams were involved in crucial Rio 2016 Olympic qualifiers.
Pinnick, who has not hidden his love for London club Arsenal, has been hugely criticised by football fans that he abandoned the country’s teams to watch Arsenal battle Chelsea.
The NFF president was spotted at the Wembley for the Community Shield on a day two of Nigeria’s teams were in action.
However, Pinnick took to his Twitter account to clear the air insisting that he was in London for business.
The  Warri-born football administrator through his twitter handle ‏@PinnickAmaju said the fans got it wrong this time, insisting he was only on a business trip to finalise some sponsorship deals for Nigeria.
“Hello all, no doubt I am an Arsenal fan but I will never relegate my calling at NFF for Arsenal,” he said.
“When Arsenal was playing against Manchester some months ago, I was on the road to Ibadan to watch 3SC against Rangers.
“My vision about my mission in NFF is clear and by God's Grace, we shall get there.
“I came into London for meetings with a consortium of would-be sponsors, some requested to see the Head Coach.
“Aside that, there are a lot of global politics going on and if Nigeria must be accorded her pride of place in global football politics, then we must participate at the highest level.
“I appeal for your understanding and prayers, nothing good comes easy.”
While Pinnick was away, the Nigeria’s senior women’s team, Super Falcons, lost 2-1 to Equatorial Guinea and missed out on the 2016 Olympics, the national U-23 team battled to a 0-0 in Congo to move to the next stage of the Olympics qualifiers.
Pinnick insists that Nigeria can no longer afford to be a silent member of the global football community. “I am also here to attend some meetings related to global football politics. It is not possible to divulge details of such meetings.”
Pinnick congratulated the U-23 boys, which delegation was led to Pointe Noire by the Chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu. “We are excited by the team’s qualification for the African U-23 Championship. But we have to keep a level head as there is still a lot of work to ensure quality preparation for the Championship in order for the team to qualify for the 2016 Olympics.”
Culled from Africanfootball