Chairman of the Unified Supporters Club of Nigeria, Vincent Okumagba, has alleged that Nigerian fans were subjected to poor treatment by Moroccan police during Wednesday night’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semifinal clash between Nigeria and hosts Morocco in Rabat.
The Super Eagles lost 4–2 on penalties after 120 minutes ended goalless at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, as Morocco advanced to the final. It was Nigeria’s second major penalty shootout defeat in Morocco in recent months, following their loss to DR Congo in the CAF playoff for the 2026 World Cup last November.
Speaking to The Guardian from Rabat on Thursday, Okumagba said members of the Supporters Club endured hours of harassment despite arriving early with valid match tickets.
“We got to the stadium as early as 5pm for a match scheduled for 9pm. For more than three hours, the stadium police were drilling us in the cold, pushing us from one gate to another,” he said.
According to him, the police claimed the supporters could not sit together because their tickets bore different gate numbers and also demanded FAN IDs.
“They asked all manner of questions and insisted on FAN ID. I don’t understand why FAN ID was required when we all travelled to Morocco with valid visas, and we have been using our match tickets to attend other games,” he said.
Okumagba said the situation worsened even after he contacted a Nigerian official working with the Moroccan police at the stadium.
“He came, but all his explanations that members of the Supporters Club needed to sit in one place fell on deaf ears. They started pushing us, and before we knew it, thousands of Moroccan fans had occupied the seats allocated to us. It was hell in Rabat,” he said.
He alleged that the actions of the police were aimed at disorganising Nigerian supporters and preventing them from cheering the Super Eagles collectively.
“All the moves by the Moroccan police were to stop us from sitting together to beat our drums and blow our trumpets to ginger the Super Eagles,” Okumagba said.
However, he praised Moroccan fans for their passionate support of their national team, while contrasting it with what he described as negative behaviour by some Nigerian fans at home matches.
“I won’t blame the Moroccans entirely because they demonstrated true support for their team, unlike what happens in Nigeria, where some people abuse players or throw bottles when results are not forthcoming,” he added.
On the match itself, Okumagba expressed frustration over Nigeria’s penalty shootout failure, questioning the choice of kick takers.
“It was so painful to lose on penalties again. I don’t know the yardsticks for choosing defenders to take penalties when we had attackers. When we survived 120 minutes, I believed we would win,” he said.
He noted that Morocco missed their second kick but Nigeria failed to capitalise, just as they did against DR Congo last year.
“Even some Moroccans told me they were afraid when the match went to penalties. But again, we couldn’t take advantage when they missed. It was really painful,” he said.
Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou emerged as the hero of the night, saving penalties from Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi before Youssef En-Nesyri converted the decisive kick to seal victory for the Atlas Lions.