The emotional base of Super Eagles’ coach, Eric Sekou Chelle is under focus once again, after he got a yellow card for losing his temper during his team’s 2-1 defeat by Egypt on Tuesday, Sports247 reports.
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Although the game was an ‘unofficial friendly’ in preparation for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Chelle allowed his temper boil and spill over on account of alleged poor officiating.
The Franco-Malian gaffer seemingly lost his cool after the referee approved Egypt’s second goal that appeared to have come from an offside position and overlooked ball handling by the hosts.
Chelle’s agitated reactions during Tuesday’s match, which eventually earned him a yellow card, would remind football followers about his repeated bursts towards the bench of DR Congo during penalties’ shoot out in the World Cup play-offs final.
Even before his team eventually lost the shoot-out to The Leopards, after three of the Eagles’ players lost their kicks, Chelle was already screaming about voodoo, which he alleged had been used by an official of DR Congo to confuse the Nigerian lads.
However, many football followers pointed out that Chelle could be charged by CAF and FIFA for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’ with his actions and words.
Though Tuesday’s game was not regarded as an official friendly, fresh worries have emerged about likely punitive measures for Chelle, who is now becoming widely known for heated reactions during games.
I
t’s left to be seen if Chelle will go unpunished, but a school of thought fears he might not get away with such emotional outbursts if he repeats them during the upcoming AFCON in Morocco.
Incidentally, a match report by the communications department of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) captured Chelle’s agitated reactions as part of highlights from the Eagles’ loss in Cairo.
The media statement noted in part: “Possession appeared largely balanced in the half but the Pharaohs struck from what looked like offside positioning. Nigeria protested but the referee stuck to his gun.
“(Eagles’) coach, Eric Chelle was shown a yellow card after remonstrating one of the referee’s poor decisions, including a handball incident in the Egyptian box that was waved away.”
Nonetheless, with the build up game now behind them, Chelle and his players will turn their focus fully on AFCON 2025, where they will tango Tanzania in their first group match on Tuesday.
Sports247 gathered that the Eagles will fly out aboard a chartered flight to their Group C base in Fés, Morocco on Thursday, ahead of their encounters with Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda.
