PHOTO: Nigeria U17 team 26 players out of 60 failed the mandatory MRI test conducted by FIFA.
“It is a disaster,”
exclaimed one devastated official. “Virtually the first team the coaches have
been working on have been disqualified. It’s a serious problem.”
We have exclusively
gathered that top NFF officials have now gone into panic mode with blames being
traded over “this mass failure”. Several of the players were in tears and total
shock when the final results came through this morning.
The affected
players have since quit the team’s training camp in Abuja for their various
bases. Among those who flung the age test was a star striker, who came through
the national U15 team and has been outstanding in training leading up to
Saturday’s AFCON qualifier.
Another promising player disqualified only recently forced his way into the starting XI of coach Manu Garba’s team after a late call-up. As first reported only by AfricanFootball.com, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have moved swiftly to ensure a much more transparent management of this MRI test by deploying independent doctors to the various member-associations.
In the case of Nigeria, an Egyptian doctor supervised the screening exercise last week. Nigeria have won the FIFA U17 World Cup a record five times – 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015
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