Following Nigeria’s 2-1 loss to Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday, some Nigerian fans have targeted Fulham FC midfielder Alex Iwobi with cyber attacks due to his “underwhelming” performance.
On Monday, the British-born Premier League star deleted nearly all of his Instagram posts to prevent fans from making abusive comments.
Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa has called on the fans to desist from cyberbullying him.
“Dear fans, I want to please urge you to halt the cyberbullying directed towards Alex Iwobi,” he wrote on Instagram. “Cyberbullying is not only a violation of decency but also a serious crime. It’s hypocritical to claim that football unites us while engaging in such behavior.”
Musa continued: “Losing a game is undoubtedly tough, but targeting a single player for the team’s shortcomings is unfair and unjust. We win as a team and we lose as a team. Alex gave his all on the field, just like every member of our squad.”
Okocha defends Iwobi
Jay Jay Okocha, Iwobi’s uncle and Super Eagles legend, sent an encouraging message to the former Arsenal FC star while also condemning cyberbullying.
“We love you, Alex Iwobi, and we keep going no matter what they say,” he wrote. “The lord is good all the time and we trust that his will be done in our lives, amen.”
Iwobi made his debut for Nigeria in 2015 after switching his international allegiance from England. He has 74 caps for the Super Eagles with ten goals.
In 2017, the 27-year-old midfielder scored the only goal against Zambia to send the Super Eagles to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
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His teammates and former Super Eagles stars have taken to various social media platforms to urge fans to stop cyberbullying the midfielder, who appeared in all of Nigeria’s matches at the recently concluded AFCON.
