NFF Earns N40m from Nigeria vs Egypt, Faces CAF Axe for Poor Crowd Control.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), made a total sum of N40 million from ticket sales at last Friday’s AFCON 2017 qualifying match against the Pharaohs of Egypt in Kaduna.
The tickets for the match, which witnessed an overwhelming crowd at the Ahmadu Bello stadium, it was, bought over by the host Kaduna State Government for N40m.

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) sources confirmed that the federation reached an agreement with the Kaduna State Government which bought over the match and eventually distributed them to the freely free at designated centres.
The situation led to the throwing open of the Ahmad Bello stadium, leading to the recording of an intimidating crowd at the stadium.
“It was a perfect arrangement between the federation and the host government who bought all the tickets and distributed them to the teeming fans. We are pleased with the agreement which has guaranteed the highest crowd ever on Nigerian football. We are also grateful to God that we did not record any ugly incident because the crowd was much overwhelming,” an NFF official said.Nigeria may be sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for overcrowding at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Egypt last Friday.
The 25,000-capacity Ahmadu Bello Stadium, which was built in 1964, overflowed with more than 40,000 spectators after host Kaduna State government threw open the gates for the fans to watch the game free.
Hundreds of fans stood on the stadium’s athletics tracks to watch the match, while the stands were packed to the seams.
“Nigeria will most likely be penalised by CAF for this poor crowd control even though there was no major incident before, during and after the match,” said a worried top official.
“Sanctions for such a shortcoming would be a fine and a warning.”
Another official said the police failed to stop the crowd from gaining access to the stadium even when it was clear the arena’s capacity was already overstretched.
In 2009, poor crowd control caused the death of 19 people before a 2010 World Cup qualifier between hosts Cote d’Ivoire and Malawi.
Investigations said ticketless fans were to blame on the stampede and Ivorian FA were fined $47,000 by FIFA.