Nigeria star Okoronkwo claims valuables were stolen from team's accommodation at Women's Africa Cup of Nations

Esther Okoronkwo, a forward for the Super Falcons, has come forward with allegations that $700 was taken from her wallet while the Nigerian squad was preparing for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Casablanca, Morocco.

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The AFC Toronto forward took to her Snapchat account to share her story, revealing that she was not the only one who had fallen victim to theft, as several of her teammates also reported missing funds from their wallets at the Marriott Hotel in Casablanca.

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Initially, Okoronkwo claimed that $500 had been stolen from her wallet, but she later corrected the amount to $700 after re-counting her money, sparking widespread concern among her teammates.

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In her initial post, Okoronkwo expressed her outrage, stating, “This hotel Marriott in Casablanca just stole about a lot of people’s money from their wallet! They just stole 500 USD from me!! They stole couple of dollars from my teammate,” before updating the figure to $700.

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Okoronkwo pointed fingers at the hotel's housekeeping staff, accusing them of stealing the money while the players were away from their rooms, saying, “The cleaning people stole the money. So they waited while we weren’t in the room to clean and steal the money.”

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The Super Falcons forward also revealed that the players confronted the hotel staff about the missing money, but were met with dismissive responses, with Okoronkwo stating, “We started talking to them and they don’t have answers. They also started being disrespectful.”

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Despite the off-field drama, the Super Falcons have pressed on with their preparations for the tournament, and on Thursday, they secured a 2-1 win over Tanzania in a pre-tournament friendly, with Okoronkwo scoring the decisive goal.

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The team, led by Justine Madugu, is set to kick off their campaign against Malawi on Tuesday at the Al Madina Stadium in Rabat, followed by matches against Zambia and Egypt in Group C.

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Nigeria, the record 10-time African champions, is seeking to extend their record and claim an 11th WAFCON title, and the team remains focused on their goal despite the recent setbacks.