AFCON U17: Against NFF Policy, Ugbade Screens Over 1,000 Players As Eaglets Camp Opens

AFCON U17: Against NFF Policy, Ugbade Screens Over 1,000 Players As Eaglets Camp Opens

Ibraheem Lateef Ayodele

No fewer than 1,000 players were allowed on the training pitch of the Nigeria U17 national team camp on Monday, the resumption day.

The Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) President Ibrahim Gusau has said that on the day of screening seeing the mammoth of players at the FIFA Goal Project, the training pitch of the team is over.

To this end, last Thursday, 19th January, the NFF through a press statement reported that 48 players are expected to resume camping this morning.

However, when this reporter visited the training pitch to monitor the first training session, what the Head Coach was seen doing was not training but rather screening.

Over 1,000 players were allowed into the pitch, given a few minutes to showcase their skills for the coaches to see.

Gusau had frowned at this condemning the process and vowed to put a stop to such.

Golden Eaglets were U17 West African Football Union (WAFU B L champions. The Nigerians were undefeated throughout the tournament with Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo and Burkina Faso all falling prey to the Ugbade team.

Nigeria defeated Burkina Faso 2-1 in the final and both teams picked tickets for the African U-17 Championship slated for Algeria from 8th to 30th April 2023.

Twelve African teams will participate in the 15th edition of the biennial competition where Semifinalists pick the ticket to represent Africa at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Peru.