Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, has defended his decision to restrict media access to the team’s training sessions ahead of Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations 2025 Round of 16 match against Mozambique.
Chelle shut out journalists from training for three days from Thursday, a move that drew criticism from members of the media who compared Nigeria’s approach to other teams such as Morocco and Senegal.
Reacting to the situation, photojournalist Olawale Quadri criticised the decision in a post on X, saying journalists were unfairly treated.
“What Eric Chelle is doing to journalists is bad. Journalists were subjected to media parley with the players under the cold weather in an open field for the first time in Super Eagles history,” Quadri wrote.
“Journalists were beaten by rain because Chelle doesn’t want journalists around the Super Eagles camp. Locking down training sessions for three days is unprofessional. I wish him well against Mozambique.”
Speaking on Sunday at his pre-match press conference, Chelle said the decision was in line with tournament rules and not targeted at the media.
“The rules when you go to this tournament allow one session for journalists. And because I respect this country, I respect you guys, my media officer and I talked before AFCON and agreed to give Nigerian journalists a second training session per week. So it means two training sessions per week,” he said.
The coach stressed that his priority was keeping the players focused ahead of the knockout game.
“For me, it’s a good deal. But now we are not on holiday. I have to take care of my players. I have to work. This is not a question against you. I want my team to stay focused,” Chelle added.
“We have a goal. We have an objective. And if I open all of the training sessions for you, we could do that. But after that, if we lose, people will say, ‘Oh, Eric is crazy. He opened the door every time.’”
“So everyone needs to stay calm. This is not against you. This is to protect my players. I want them to stay focused.”
The Super Eagles, seen as one of the favourites for the title, will take on Mozambique on Monday in a crucial match that could shape their AFCON 2025 campaign.
