As many as eight players of the senior national team of Nigeria will likely be in the camp of the senior national team of Nigeria few days before they play their first game of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, OwnGoalNigeria.com reveals.
Already the clubs of the players have established contacts with the NFF on the need for them to hold on to the players till at least the 7th of January, seven days before Nigeria play against Equatorial Guinea in their opening game of the tournament.
Cyprus side Omonia Nicosia were the first to reach out to the NFF on the need for Francis Uzoho, who is their only senior goalkeeper with regular first choice Fabiano out injured.
Omonia want Uzoho to still at least the 7th of January which will be after their game against Aris Limassol. NFF on their part are insisting that he leave for the AFCON on the 3rd after their game against AEL a day before.
It is almost the same with five players based in England top of which is the Fulham duo of Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi. The club are saying they should report to the camp of the Super Eagles after their FA Cup game against Rotherham as against the earlier agreed date for their arrival, which is the 1st of January after their clash against Arsenal in the English Premier League.
The duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho of table topping Leicester City are also caught in the web of a club vs country row over their arrival date, with the club pleading for them to be in the camp after their game against Millwall in the FA Cup on the 6th of January.
According to what we exclusively gathered, they were initially expected to team up with the Super Eagles after the league game against Huddersfield on the 1st of January. Both players have been key to the team’s impressive season so far as they push for an instant return to the English Premier League following relegation last season.
It is the same situation with Joe Aribo, who has won his spot back at Southampton and the club now want to delay his arrival in the camp of the Nigerian team till the 6th of January, so as for him to play in their FA Cup game against Walsall on the 6th of January.
AC Milan have also entered talks with the NFF demanding for Samuel Chukwueze to delay his arrival till the 3rd of January with head coach Stefano Pioli keen on having him around for the Coppa Italia game against Cagliari on the 2nd.
He was supposed to be in the camp after the game against Sassuolo on the 30th of December. They want him to leave Italy at the same time with midfielder Ismael Bennacer.
Sadiq Umar is in the same situation as Real Sociedad have informed the NFF on the need for him to delay his arrival till at least after their game against Alaves in the La Liga on the 2nd of January.
All requests are yet to be granted by the NFF nor head coach Jose Peseiro. They are adamant that all players should be around on the 1st of January as demanded by FIFA, which says a players are due to be released to their national teams 14 days before the start of a major tournament.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
