The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has dismissed as false, a viral social media report claiming Super Falcons defender Ashley Plumptre was unhappy over her alleged omission from Nigeria’s squad for the upcoming Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), urging journalists and media organisations to verify information before publishing.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the NFF Communications Department, the federation described the report as the handiwork of an internet scammer who fabricated claims that Plumptre was lamenting her exclusion from the Super Falcons squad for the 14th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled to hold in Morocco from July 25 to August 16.
Reacting to the development, NFF Director of Competitions, Ruth David, said the report was entirely false, stressing that Plumptre does not operate a Facebook account.
According to David, the defender had publicly clarified last year that fraudsters had been impersonating her on Facebook and that repeated attempts to have the fake account removed had been unsuccessful.
She explained that nothing had changed regarding Plumptre’s absence from the platform, warning Nigerians not to believe any information emanating from cloned social media accounts using the player’s identity.
David also pointed out that the Super Falcons’ coaching crew had yet to submit an official squad list for the WAFCON tournament, making the viral report baseless.
She recalled that the same scammer had previously circulated false claims involving Super Falcons striker Esther Okoronkwo, alleging she had complained about being left out of the national team.
The federation clarified that Okoronkwo missed the friendly matches against Senegal because she was recovering from injury.
The NFF further referenced an earlier false report which claimed veteran striker Asisat Oshoala had retired from international football, describing it as another example of misinformation spread through social media.
The federation appealed to media practitioners, content creators and members of the public to always verify reports before sharing them, noting that the growing spread of fake news threatens the credibility and integrity of the media.
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Plumptre also dismissed the claims in a statement posted on her verified social media platforms.
She revealed that fake accounts had been using her identity to scam unsuspecting members of the public for more than a year.
“Awful false accounts. I’ve posted on my IG and X for people to report. They are using my identity and scamming people.
“‘m currently contacting someone in Saudi Arabia to help me take these accounts down because this has been happening for well over a year now,” she said.
