Kenneth Omeruo reveals TERRIBLE message Ola Aina received after 2023 AFCON final
Nigeria’s Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo has opened up about the severe cyberbullying that players face when they underperform and fail to meet expectations on the field.
The Super Eagles’ defeat to Ivory Coast in the final of the 2023 AFCON tournament resulted in a barrage of abuse directed at the players from disappointed fans.
Fulham and Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi, bore the brunt of cyberbullying following his performance in the final match.
The backlash prompted Iwobi to delete all his Instagram photos as he was singled out for criticism regarding the team’s overall performance in the tournament.
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Omeruo revealed that Ola Aina, another Super Eagles player, received a death threat from a supporter after the final match.
Despite Aina’s standout performances leading up to the AFCON final, fans were discontent with his display during the final game.
According to Omeruo, the cyberbullying endured by Super Eagles players can lead to a loss of confidence and, in extreme cases, may prompt players to reconsider their involvement with the national team.
In an interview with Arise News, Omeruo spoke of the impact fan cyberbullying has on players’ morale and confidence. He stressed the need to address this issue to prevent players from withdrawing from national team duties due to online harassment.
Omeruo said: “There are a lot of people who are angry for nothing’s sake, and they will come at you. Before this tournament, we’ve been getting criticism.
“For example, someone wrote to Ola Aina on Instagram, ‘I hope you die’. They just write whatever, they don’t care about the consequences and most times I have stopped myself from replying a lot of messages.
“If I reply like this one blog will pick it and they’ll make a big deal out of it but we just have to grow thick skin and hopefully keep winning because when we win they forget about every other thing.”
Omeruo added, “I was speaking to Ola and he made some comments that I won’t say here but if we lose a player like him just because of some bullying from some fans that are not even important, then it’s going to affect us.
“Imagine Ola Aina, for me, was one of the best players in the tournament and was named to the Team of the Tournament as well.
“For having one bad game and you kill him, you go to his Instagram DM and insult him, it’s really wrong and it kills the confidence of the players so what if they decide it’s not worth it, I’m not coming.
“It’s nothing, they are playing for their clubs, they earn money at their clubs, and we should really, really address it.” the 2013 AFCON winner remarked.
