The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has said that the comments of its Vice-President, Seyi Akinwunmi about lesbianism and the women's game had been misreported in an "uncharitable version of the interview" reported in newspapers on Monday.


He was talking about a recent dip in form of Nigeria's national women's team, the Super Falcons, and was quoted as saying that "lesbianism kills teams. People are afraid to talk about it."

But the NFF says that Mr Akinwunmi had "touched briefly on the issue of lesbianism in Nigerian women's football and its effect on fund-raising efforts for the game".

An NFF statement then has a quote from the vice-president:

I noted that one of the problems we have encountered in trying to raise funds for the women's game, is the perception of lesbianism therein, as many of our potential sponsors have shied away from supporting the women's game because of the misconception that it is synonymous with lesbianism.
These potential sponsors have decided to err on the side of caution and have opted to stay away from supporting our female teams rather than be caught up in this maelstrom.