A contestant during the 2022 Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Presidential election, David Doherty has made some clarifications about the alleged online bullying of Alex Iwobi.
The Fulham midfielder was singled out for bullying after Nigeria was trounced by the hosts Ivory Coast in the final game of 2023 AFCON.
Nigeria’s loss triggered a wave of criticism at Iwobi who has taken a drastic step to shield himself from the onslaught of online abuse by deleting all photos from his Instagram page.
Doherty, however, issued a statement on Thursday to quickly clarify claims that the went offline because of the harsh criticisms.
The football administrator disclosed that Iwobi has arrived home safely in London, resumed training with Fulham on Thursday morning and will be available for selection.
“According to a source close to Alex Iwobi, he did not go offline because of some bullies. Let’s get this fact right. He only went off line to simply concentrate on the tournament,” Doherty said on Facebook.
“Not at 27, going to 28 years, such will be an issue coming from people you don’t even know and have anything with, no. The fact is that Alex did not feel cyber bullied and honestly is getting a bit tiring.
“Alex is obviously open to constructive criticism from his coaches and credible people, so he is quite taken aback by the portrayal of him as this poor kid sat in a corner weeping his eyes out because of comments from people who don’t matter and him needing other people to fight his battle for him.
“He does not feel bullied by anyone because what they are saying has absolutely no effect on him,” Doherty quoted the source as saying via WhatsApp.
According to Doherty, the source close to Iwobi added that the so-called bullies are, without a doubt, the minority as football loving Nigerians recognise the player’s commitment and what he brings to the Super Eagles.
The source added that unfortunately, the minority is always very loud and said people should be quite worried if Iwobi at this stage of his career is affected by comments from those he doesn’t know nor respect.
He stressed that football calls for mental strength and if Iwobi cannot at this point in his career, cope with some people hating on him, he might as well hang his boots.
Sadly, Iwobi could not measure up to the bar many Nigerians had raised against his name at the 2023 AFCON but in all fairness, the 3-4-3 formation adopted by the Eagles in most of their matches was to his disadvantage.
Iwobi was at his best in Nigeria’s group opening clash against Equatorial Guinea where he could have had two assists if not for Victor Osimhen and Zaidu Sanusi’s profligacy in front of goal.
A nephew of Nigeria football legend, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Iwobi was fingered in the first goal Nigeria conceded against Ivory Coast in the final.
