Why Home-Based Players Are Shut Out From The National Team – Alloy Chukwuemeka

  Why Home-Based Players Are Shut Out From The National Team – Alloy Chukwuemeka By Taofeek LAWAL Secretary, Club Owners Association of Nigeria (COAN), Alloy Chukwuemeka, has given reasons responsible for the continuous snub of the home-based players from the national teams especially the senior male national football team, the Super Eagles, BSNsports.com.ng reports. Chukwuemeka, who is also the Director of Football of Ilorin-based Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) FC, said the inconsistency in the resumption of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) will not only continue to have negative impacts on the career of the home-based players but impede their invitation to the national team. He however said that it is high time Nigeria tackled whatever is responsible for the delay in the commencement of her league; align her calendar with European leagues as these will give room for the handlers of the national team to monitor the performances of the players during the season. He said Coach Gernot Rohr may not have much blame for not inviting the league players because the season has not yet commenced which makes the players to be match rusty. His words, “We must first look at the causes of the late resumption of the league. When you compare Nigeria with other parts of the world, we must also try to look at our problems and domesticate our own style of operations. For now, you can’t blame the coach (Gernot Rohr) because you are all aware that as we speak, the Nigeria league has not resumed. It was not man-made but an emergency situation occasioned by the global pandemic. Before now, we have had issues that have led to the delay of our league which are also known to the stakeholders when we had the economic crunch that has affected the smooth running of the league.” “Going forward, how do we plan to avoid such so that we align our calendar with that of Europe whereby our players should be playing along their counterparts and the coaches (national team coaches) will have the opportunity of seeing the local players playing in the league so that they could be invited. It is a continuous thing and we will continue to manage it within the context of our own environment,” the COAN secretary added.