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Kenneth Omeruo, Nigeria’s central defender, has shed light on the intensity of cyberbullying that Super Eagles players face when they falter and don't meet expectations.
The Super Eagles lost to the host country, Ivory Coast, in the final of the 2023 AFCON tournament, which led to abuse from fans.
Alex Iwobi, a Fulham and Super Eagles midfielder, was a victim of cyberbullying after his performance in the final.
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19:24 - 14.02.2024
Attack the team not individual players - Ahmed Musa hits back at Nigerians
In an emotional appeal to the fans, Nigeria's national team captain, Ahmed Musa, has called for unity and support following a surge of cyber attacks directed at teammate Alex Iwobi.
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19:07 - 14.02.2024
‘If It Happens To Me I’ll Break Down’ – Stanley Nwabali on Iwobi’s cyberbullying issues
Super Eagles' shot-stopper, Stanley Nwabali, recently opened up about the negative impact of cyberbullying on athletes, specifically referring to the harsh online treatment his teammate Alex Iwobi endured during and after the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The cyberbullying led to the midfielder deleting all his Instagram photos after he was blamed for the team's performance in the tournament.
Aina threatened by fans
Omeruo disclosed that Ola Aina received a death-threatening message from a supporter after Ivory Coast winger Simon Adingra, was beaten handily by the wing-back in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final.
Many Super Eagles supporters weren't happy with Aina because, although she was undoubtedly the team's best player en route to the AFCON final, she turned off just one week ago when it counted most.
According to Omeruo, Super Eagles players may lose confidence as a result of fan cyberbullying, and in the worst situation, they may decide to leave the national team.
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In a lengthy interview with Arise News, as reported by Allnigeriasoccer, Omeruo said: "There are a lot of people who are angry for nothing's sake, and they will come at you. Before this tournament, we've been getting criticism.
"For example, someone wrote to Ola Aina on Instagram, 'I hope you die'. They just write whatever, they don't care about the consequences and most times I have stopped myself from replying a lot of messages.
"If I reply like this one blog will pick it and they'll make a big deal out of it but we just have to grow thick skin and hopefully keep winning because when we win they forget about every other thing."
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Omeruo continued, "I was speaking to Ola and he made some comments that I won't say here but if we lose a player like him just because of some bullying from some fans that are not even important, then it's going to affect us.
"Imagine Ola Aina, for me, was one of the best players in the tournament and was named to the Team of the Tournament as well.
"For having one bad game and you kill him, you go to his Instagram DM and insult him, it's really wrong and it kills the confidence of the players so what if they decide it's not worth it, I'm not coming.
"It's nothing, they are playing for their clubs, they earn money at their clubs, and we should really, really address it."
Ola Aina, the former captain of England U19, made his debut for Nigeria in a 2018 World Cup qualification match against Zambia. Since then, he has made 39 appearances for the Super Eagles.
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