This is a very difficult period for the people of Morocco-NFF

A survivor of the deadly 6.8 magnitude Sept. 8 earthquake cries as she sits on the rubble of her damaged house, in the mountain village of Moulay Brahim in al-Haouz province in central Morocco on Sept. 10, 2023.PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

By Rasheed Adewuyi

The Nigeria Football Federation has expressed deep sorrow and grief at the death of over 1,000 people in an earthquake that occurred in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco in the early hours of Saturday, 9^th September 2023.

Reports indicate that more than 1,000 persons had been confirmed dead while hundreds more were injured from the impact of the magnitude 7.2 quake that damaged buildings in the picturesque city of Marrakech. The quake was the deadliest in the North African country in six decades.

“This is a very difficult period for the people of Morocco. We deeply mourn with them on this devastating earthquake, and we pray that Almighty God will comfort those who have lost loved ones and also grant the souls of the dead eternal rest.

“The NFF and the Nigeria Football fraternity are shocked beyond words at the carnage to human lives and infrastructure. Our hearts are with the people of that country, and we commiserate with not only the Football fraternity but the generality of the Moroccan population on this tragedy,” President of NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, said in Uyo on Saturday.

The Confederation of African Football has instructed Member Associations to observe one-minute silence in honor of the victims of the earthquake in Morocco at all matches of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification series taking place this weekend across the continent.