Akwa Ibom Government says it printed 20,000 T-shirts for distribution to football fans to cheer Super Eagles in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against the Desert Foxes (Fennecs) of Algeria in Uyo.
Government also constituted a Local Organising Committee (LOC), to ensure a successful hosting of the match at Godswill Akpabio Stadium.
Chairman of the Publicity sub committee of the LOC, Nse Edem, disclosed this to newsmen in Uyo on Tuesday.
Edem said that the committee, chaired by Secretary to Akwa Ibom Government, Etekamba Umoren, also included; a medical, security, accommodation and marketing.
He said that the committee would be coordinated by veteran sports journalist and FIFA Technical Officer, Paul Bassey.
Edem said that measures had been put in place to ensure that there were no lapses.
“As far as we are concerned, there will be no excuses for failure because we have learnt our lessons from the last AFCON qualifier played in Uyo.
“We have put every arrangement in place to ensure they don’t reoccur again,” he said.
Edem, who is also the Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Youths and Sports, said that sales of tickets would begin on Wednesday at designated spots within Akwa Ibom and other parts of Nigeria.
He also said that 200 personnel would be deployed to ensure the safety of fans.
According to him, supporters clubs of local teams in the state will also be mobilised to compliment the Nigerian Football Supporters Club to cheer the Super Eagles to victory.
He said: “As far as Akwa Ibom state is concerned, there will be no margin for errors for this weekend’s qualifier.
“We are confident that Uyo will host all the Super Eagles home matches for the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers.”
Nigeria currently leads their group in the Russia 2018 African qualifiers after a 2-1 win in Ndola against host Zambia last month.
