Falcons bemoan ‘misleading’ Ordega reports

Super Falcons Chef de Mission at the 2022 WAFCON Aisha Falode has lamented “misleading reports” in several publications (not PUNCH Sports Extra) indicating that midfielder Francisca Ordega was disqualified from the competition by the Confederation of African Football.

Ordega, who is competing in her fifth WAFCON, according to the reports, was dropped by CAF for “medical reasons”, adding that the Russia-based player was one of 10 players from across the teams in Morocco axed by CAF for this reason, including Zambia star Barbara Banda, who was no longer deemed as a woman.

However, the 28-year-old started on the bench spotting the jersey No.17 in Randy Waldrum’s squad’s opening 2-1 defeat to South Africa on Monday. She came on for Asisat Oshoala as the Falcons desperately sought for goals against their perennial rivals.

Team video also showed the veteran CSKA Moscow woman, who has four WAFCON titles to her name, seated inside the team bus with the other players, on the way to the crunch tie.

“There are too many avenues for people to verify stories, so I don’t know why they are peddling falsehood, these are misleading reports,” Falode told PUNCH Sports Extra.

“If CAF suspends a player, it will be on their website, it would be published and so communicated. Did you see it anywhere that the player (Ordega) has been dropped from the WAFCON? Only one player from Zambia, Barbra Banda, was dropped from the competition on medical grounds. So, if Ordega was dropped, would it also not be on the CAF publication.

Also, Falcons Media Officer Oluchi Tobe-Chukwu stated, “The report isn’t true, her (Ordega) room is next to mine and she’s part of the squad. When I first saw the report, I immediately called the CAF Media Officer and the Head of Media, CAF Women’s Football. They asked where I got the news from and I told them it’s trending in Nigeria.”