Delta State governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has explained that he decided to give the Super Eagles $50,000 for their 1-1 draw away to South Africa last Saturday, because he believes the Nigerian team won the match at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, footballlive.ng reports.
Although the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier officially ended 1-1, Okowa said he saw the Eagles score two, only to have one incorrectly ruled out for offside by the match referee, hence his decision to go ahead with his pledge of rewarding the squad with $25,000 for each goal in Jo’Burg.
Consequently, Okowa splashed an equivalent of N18m on the Eagles and the 59-year-old medical doctor said the three time African champs would have won the match had the Gambian referee not disallowed two other goals scored by Gernot Rohr’s side.
The Delta State governor said further that he was happy to be part of the teeming Nigerians that made it possible for the Eagles to secure a ticket to their first AFCON appearance since winning the trophy in 2013.
Okowa said: “As a state government, we did make a promise that we will give $25, 000 per goal in the AFCON qualifying match in South Africa.
“In my mind, I know we scored two goals, not one goal, because the second goal was wrongly disallowed.
“So, we will fulfil our promise with what we saw, not with what was announced by the referee.”
