By Rachael Roberts
The Nigerians In Diaspora Organization, NIDOE-Austria, has described the recent attempt by an Austrian-based, self acclaimed Nigerian to harass the Super Falcons as ”misguided” while the team was on a metro to the city centre in Vienna on Tuesday.
Following the incident, NFF vowed to unmask the fellow who tried to harass Super Falcons in Austria.
The Nigeria Football Federation said it has initiated moves to ensure that the identity of the self-acclaimed Nigerian who got on the train with the Super Falcons in Vienna, Austria on Tuesday and made the players uncomfortable with what Glass House described as “inflammatory political talks” is revealed.
Team officials explained on Tuesday afternoon that the girls, who had been in the Austrian capital since Thursday preparing for upcoming international engagements, opted to have a view of the city after their morning training, and decided to go by public transport to the city centre.
According to the statement, “the man, who claimed to be a Nigerian, though doubtful from his accent, began abuses against the ladies for representing Nigeria. He added that no one could touch him because that would amount to assault as he had not touched anyone”.
His actions did not unsettle the Super Falcons as he was said to have been ignored throughout, and the disciplined response infuriated him the more.
However, the NFF President and FIFA Council Member, Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick, said the NFF will immediately report the matter to world football–governing body, FIFA, and would pursue the case to its logical conclusion.
In his statement, he said “We are infuriated because these are young ladies who are our ambassadors and are there in Austria preparing for major international competitions. That was a dastardly act by that fellow and we are not taking it lightly. The girls simply wanted to go on sightseeing and there is nothing wrong with that. They do not deserve to be subjected to such diatribe by a so-called fellow Nigerian.
“We will unmask the fellow and then take it from there,” the NFF boss concluded.
Meanwhile, In a two-page letter, NIDOE-Austria condemned in very strong terms the assault by the fellow and insisted that they are “happy that the Falcon players chose Austria for their summer camping this year.”
The organization was unambiguous in declaring that harassing female players on a train is misguided. According to the statement, while he may not have attempted to physically assault any of them, “the action of verbal harassment would not solve any problems in Nigeria. This action infringes on their rights to dignity as guaranteed by Austria laws. Though Austrian laws guarantee freedom to protest and demonstrations, there are procedures that must be followed and this right is not a blanket provision to harass innocent and private individuals.”
The organization said it saw “no problems with the Falcons taking public transportation which are normally very comfortable and safe, to get a feel of how people live in Vienna,” expressing that it is “appalled over the actions of the fellow, no matter his motivations and do hereby dissociate ourselves from his misguided action and condemn it. This action is not representative of the Nigeria community in Austria.”
The nine-time African champions, who have been in Austria for an eight-day training camp ahead of the upcoming Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Tournament taking place in Lagos in September, will fly out of Vienna today.
