Customs impound football body's consignment as teams face shortage of kits

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has impounded Nigeria Football Federation's (NFF) consignment from its sponsor, Nike, after the two parties failed to agree on what is to be paid as import duty.

Failure to clear the the consignment at Apapa port, Lagos, which contains kits for the national teams, has led to acute shortage of kits.

Investigations revealed that the U-17 football team, the Golden Eaglets, who are currently camping in Argentina in preparation for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, have appealed to the NFF to provide more kits for them.

It was gathered that the shortage of kits was due to NFF's failure to engage another kit sponsors on time, after Adidas  withdrew since the end of the 2014 World Cup.

The team who are the defending champions of the trophy they won 2 years ago in United Arab Emirates are hard hit with acute shortage of kits and they have asked for kits before the commencement of the tournament that is to take place from October 17-November 8 in Chile.

There are also fears that shortfall of kits supply might hamper the team in its quest to defend the FIFA U-17 World Cup.