Less than 48 hours remain to submit the final squad list for the 2024 WAFU B U-17 tournament and more than half of the Nigerian players have been disqualified due to failing the age verification test.
This could result to losing their spot in the tournament, which is scheduled to kick off in a fortnight.
According to a team official, the ordeal could be blamed on their late assemblage to camp:
“It’s a disaster. First of all, we did not start preparation on time as usual, and now the majority of the first-choice players have been eliminated after failing the MRI test.”
Recall Garba Manu was reappointed as the manager of the Nigeria U17 team last month by the NFF. He had previously led the team to Nigeria’s fourth U-17 World Cup triumph in the United Arab Emirates in 2013, and he also served as an assistant to the late Yemi Tella during the 2007 triumph in South Korea.
After his reappointment, Garba affirmed he had submitted a list of 51 players for screening, of which he scouted more than half. He told Totori News, “I have just submitted the list of 51 players that will open camp hopefully on Wednesday (today).”
“I have scouted most of those players, and some lists were given to me by some stakeholders. But I believe in the majority of the players I have scouted on my own; I have mandated them to have their MRI scan before they come to camp.”
Two years ago, Nigeria defeated Burkina Faso to lift the last edition of the WAFU B tournament, held in Ghana.
