The president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ibrahim Musa Gusau says the football house has plans in place to ensure that the country don’t miss out on top talents eligible to play for Nigeria but born abroad, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nigeria have been proactive in luring players born abroad with as many as eight present players in the team holding dual nationality. Gusau said the policy isn’t about to change anytime soon.
Made famous by former NFF president Amaju Pinnick, the trend will be sustained under Gusau but he said the approach will be a lot better to ensure that only the best players get picked and not just because they are eligible to play for the country.
” A Nigerian is a Nigerian regardless of where they are born and they have equal rights to the national teams like any other Nigerian. We will set up a committee that will be saddled with the scouting of these players. A robust scouting department so that when they are called up you won’t hear stories like they are not good enough”, he said in a radio show monitored by our editorial team.
He said plans are already advanced in that direction and it will be in tandem with the players who will progress from the various youth teams of Nigeria. The approach according to him is the first step towards ensuring that Nigeria returns to the top of football in Africa.
” The idea is to build with the youth teams and players born abroad to get a perfect team for the Super Eagles. That I think should be the foremost step in repositioning our football to claim our top spot in Africa and the world at large”, he rounded up saying.
Osas Mahawi