Nigeria warns its soccer fans ahead of World Cup in Russia

LAGOS, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria on Monday alerted its soccer fans on fraudulence and human trafficking ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The fraudsters are currently collecting names of innocent fans with a fake promise of transporting them to Russia for the World Cup, Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, said in Abuja.

He made the remarks after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari spoke on the Super Eagles' preparations for the World Cup.

"I have it on strong authority that there are a lot going on, looking more or less not suggesting something clear about how we intend to have people participate in the world cup," Dalung added.

"There are those who are busy writing names misleading Nigerians that they would give them the access to the World Cup," the minister said.

He also urged the president to intervene in ensuring early release of the approved budget for effective participation of the Super Eagles in the World cup.

On the pre-World Cup friendly with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dalung said Nigeria would go ahead with the match in spite of the resurface of Ebola Virus Disease in the DRC.

"I have discussed with the Federal Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO). We have reviewed the situation and received adequate report about it," he added.

"The DRC team is coming through a chartered flight and therefore those coming for the match will be using that chartered flight and they would have to be screened from DRC and they would also be screened here in Nigeria," the minister said.

"We also discovered that the Ebola outbreak in DRC is limited to a particular place and it has not escalated," Dalung added. Enditem