respond publicly <\/a>and drawing strong condemnation from both the Nigeria Football Federation and her club, AFC Toronto.<\/p>\nIn separate statements released on Monday on their X handles, both organisations described the attacks as unacceptable and reaffirmed their support for the Nigeria international.\n<\/p>\n
The NFF said racism and discrimination had no place in football or society.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nigeria Football Federation strongly condemns the unacceptable racist abuse directed at Super Falcons forward Esther Okoronkwo on social media following recent incidents at the team\u2019s hotel in Morocco.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscrimination in any form has no place in football or society,\u201d the federation said.\n<\/p>\n
The NFF noted that the online abuse was unjustified, stressing that the individual responsible for the theft involving the player had already been arrested, ordered to return the stolen cash and sentenced to six months\u2019 imprisonment.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe racist abuse and emojis directed at our player make absolutely no sense, especially as the individual responsible for the theft was apprehended, made to return the stolen cash in full, and sentenced to six months in prison,\u201d the statement read.\n<\/p>\n
The federation also assured that the welfare of the Super Falcons remained a top priority, adding that the incident would not distract the team from its campaign at the 2026 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations. <\/p>\n
It added, \u201cThe safety, dignity, and well-being of our players remain our utmost priority.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire team stands united, unbothered by distractions, and fully focused on tomorrow\u2019s #WAFCON2026 opener against Malawi.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
AFC Toronto, Okoronkwo\u2019s club, also threw its weight behind the striker, declaring that there was no place for racism in football.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no place for racism in our game. Today and every day we stand for respect and inclusion,\u201d the club said.\n<\/p>\n
The Canadian club disclosed that Okoronkwo had been subjected to racist abuse while representing Nigeria at the Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past few days, Esther Okoronkwo has been subjected to racist abuse while representing Nigeria at the Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
AFC Toronto said football should be a safe and welcoming environment for everyone and pledged its support for the player.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAt AFC Toronto, we believe football should be a place where everyone feels safe, respected and valued. We are proud to stand with Esther and all athletes who face racism and discrimination, both on and off the pitch.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Quoting the Super Falcons forward, the club said, \u201cHate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The club reaffirmed its commitment to fighting racism and promoting inclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand with our players. We stand with everyone working to make football more welcoming, inclusive and respectful,\u201d it added.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nigeria Football Federation and Canadian club AFC Toronto have condemned the racist abuse directed at Super Falcons…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[9587,47682,47683,30761,30208,47684,47685,47686,47687,48,47688,47689],"class_list":["post-146612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-afc-toronto","tag-anti-racism","tag-esther-okoronkwo","tag-football-news","tag-morocco","tag-nff","tag-nigerian-football","tag-racism-in-football","tag-super-falcons","tag-toronto","tag-wafcon-2026","tag-womens-africa-cup-of-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}