EXCLUSIVE:Chaotic flight connections affect Falcons Paris Olympics qualifiers return leg preparations

By Harry Awurumibe, Africa’s No.1 Women Football Journalist

The chaotic commercial flight connections in  African continent has affected Nigeria’s senior women’s football team, Super Falcons preparations for the crucial Paris Olympics Women’s Football Tournament CAF qualifiers final round first leg tie billed for Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Tuesday as the team will now arrive the match venue less than 24 hours to the kick off time Prompt News reports.

Although the nine-time African champions will depart for South Africa Sunday night from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos aboard South African Airways (SAA) flight to Johannesburg before connecting to Pretoria,  the team has lost two days training sessions and can only feel the turf of Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Monday evening.

Naturally, the 5h 55m flight to Johannesburg and another hours to Pretoria coupled with the hustles of clearing their bags and luggage as well as checking into their hotel in Pretoria will weigh down on the travelling team.

Investigations revealed that the chaotic flight connections made the visiting South African senior women’s team, Banyana Banyana to fly in and out of Abuja for the first leg tie at Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja last Friday with RwandAir as they are aware of their national carrier SAA not flying to Abuja.

The coach Desiree Ellis tutored-team left Abuja for South Africa on Saturday aboard RwandAir, a day after the Banyana Banyana were defeated one nil courtesy of captain Rasheedat Ajibade’s 43rd minute penalty goal after attacker Chinwendu Veronica Ihezuo was brought down inside the box by South African defender.

Both teams will clash in the return leg inside the 51,000-capacity Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Tuesday and the winner over two legs will pick of the African tickets for the Olympics.

Already, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has again picked North African referees for the second leg match, with Tunisian Dorsaf Ganouati as centre Referee and her compatriots Houda Afine and Emna Ajbouni as first assistant and fourth official respectively just as Egyptian Yara Atef Said Abdelfattah will be second assistant Referee.

Agar Mezing from Cameroon will be the referee Assessor while Cindy Dludlu from e-Swatini will be Match Commissioner.

Elsewhere, Morocco’s Indomitable Lionesses with 2-1 advantage over Zambian senior women’s football team will like to complete the job they started last Friday in Ndola when both teams meet in Rabat on Tuesday.  Bookmakers have already given Morocco the match if the presence of their Spanish head coach Jorge Vilda who won the FIFA Women’s World Cup with Spain’s senior women’s team last year in Australia and New Zealand.