Nigeria Football Federation have declared Fifa’s Nigeria correspondent, Samm Audu, a persona non grata and banned the journalist from attending all Super Eagles training sessions until further notice.
National Daily gathered Samm Audu has been accused of leaking the Nigeria starting eleven, going as far as publishing it on Fifa’s official website, days before the Super Eagles faced Croatia in their World Cup opener.
Having said that, Audu was not the first Nigerian journalist to correctly report the projected starting XI vs Croatia, as two others did so before he confirmed it on the official webpage of Fifa.
Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr showed his displeasure over Samm Audu’s role in his side’s defeat to Croatia and officially made a complaint to Fifa who were then forced to replace him.
A foreign journalist, Annette Braun is now the official Fifa’s Nigeria team reporter for the 2018 World Cup and in her introductory speech, she diplomatically stated that Samm Audu was performing other duties for Fifa elsewhere.
The Super Eagles are due to hold a press conference at their Essentuki Training Site on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 from 1630 hours.