The Chairman of the Unified Supporters Club of Nigeria, Vincent Okumagba, has provided a distressing account of the treatment his members received from Moroccan police during the Africa Cup of Nations semifinal clash between Nigeria and Morocco.
Chaos at the Stadium Gates
Speaking to The Guardian from Rabat on Thursday, January 16, 2026, Okumagba described a scene of deliberate frustration. He explained that supporters arrived at the stadium as early as 5:00 p.m. for the 9:00 p.m. match, only to be subjected to over three hours of confusion in the cold.
"The stadium police were drilling us," Okumagba stated. "They pushed us from one gate to another, claiming we could not all sit together because our tickets had different gate numbers." He added that officers demanded FAN IDs and other documents, despite the group having entered Morocco with valid visas and used match tickets for all previous games.
A Deliberate Tactic to Silence Support
Okumagba believes the actions were intentional. "All that move by the Moroccan police was to disorganise us from sitting in one place to beat our drums and blow our trumpets to ginger the Super Eagles," he alleged. The situation escalated when a Nigerian liaison officer working with the Moroccan police intervened, but his pleas for the group to be seated together were ignored.
Thousands of Moroccan fans then took the seats allocated to the Nigerian supporters. "It was hell in Rabat," Okumagba lamented. Despite the hostility, he noted that the Moroccan fans' passion was a stark contrast to the sometimes abusive environment Nigerian players face at home matches.
Painful Echoes of Past Penalty Defeats
The match itself ended in familiar heartbreak for Nigeria. After a goalless 120 minutes, the Super Eagles lost 4-2 in a penalty shootout, allowing Morocco to advance to the final. Okumagba expressed deep frustration with the team's recurring penalty woes, which also saw them lose to DR Congo in a World Cup playoff in the same stadium in November 2025.
"I was shocked to see what happened last year repeating itself," he said. He questioned the decision to use defenders as penalty takers when attackers were available. "Morocco lost their second kick, but instead of capitalising on it, the Super Eagles went on to lose. It was really painful." He revealed that even some Moroccan fans confessed to fearing the penalty shootout, highlighting the missed opportunity for Nigeria.
