Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets are once again facing a race against time to assemble a team for a successful defence of the WAFU B U17 championship, as over half of the first-choice players failed the mandatory MRI test to check players ages.
This setback comes as Nigeria has until Monday to submit the final squad list to the organisers.
“It’s a complete disaster!” lamented a top official.
“First, we did not start the training camp in good time, and as is often the case, the majority of the first-choice players have now been knocked out after they failed the MRI test.”
Coach Manu Garba, who was reappointed late to his former post, is now under even more pressure to assemble a team that will secure qualification for the U17 AFCON tournament from the WAFU B qualifying series in Ghana starting May 15.
The five-time world champions are drawn in Group B alongside Burkina Faso, Togo, and Niger Republic.
Two years ago, under Nduka Ugbade’s leadership, the country won the sub-regional tournament only to fail to qualify for the U17 World Cup.
