The Abuja camp of Nigeria’s Super Falcons has been thrown into mourning following the decision of Fifa to suspend Nigeria from all competitive football.

The Falcons are scheduled to represent Nigeria at the 7th Africa Women’s Championships in South Africa. The competition begins on October 31 and runs to November 14 and the Nigerians have been grouped in pot A with South Africa, Tanzania and Mali.

A member of the Falcons side who spoke to SuperSport.com on condition of anonymity said the girls were all in low spirits following the news.

“We have been in camp in Abuja for quite some time training and fine tuning our tactics. So to get to hear this now is heart breaking to say the least.”

The player also noted that even if the situation is eventually sorted out, the players would still need to dig themselves out of a deep psychological pit.

“The Falconets went through the same thing shortly before the U20 World Cup as the President suspended all the National teams from International competitions for two years. That situation was eventually resolved and I hope this will too” she said.

She however told SuperSport.com that no official pronouncement about the situation have been relayed to the players. Twenty two players are currently in the Super Falcons camp preparing for the AWC.

They include amongst others, Precious Dede, Tochukwu Oluehi, Gife Otuwe, Lauretta Saddoe, Stella Mbachu, Evelyn Nwabuokwu, Edith Eduviere, Akudo Sabi, Ugochi Oparanozie, Felicia Eze, Olumma Jerome, Ebere Orji, and Ogonna Chukwudi.