FC Ifeanyi Ubah Miss Out On N24.2M World Cup Largesse After GK Ezenwa's Exit

Nigeria Professional Football League outfit FC Ifeanyi Ubah are set to miss out on Fifa's 2018 World Cup largesse after failing to tie down goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa to a new deal.

The Nigeria international walked away as a free agent at the end of the 2017 season, meaning his next club will be compensated by Fifa on the proviso that he is named to Nigeria's World Cup roster.

At the 2014 World Cup, the amount was 5,800 euros per player for every World Cup day, and that sum should rise at next summer's football festival in Russia.

And with the players named to the roster expected to spend a minimum of ten days in Russia, FC Ifeanyi Ubah stood to pocket at least 58,000 euros (equivalent of N24.2 million), based on the rate used in 2014.

Around this time last year, Spanish clubs Atletico Madrid and Cadiz had been linked with a sensational swoop for Ezenwa, but a transfer did not materialize when the transfer window ended in January 2017.

The 29-year-old was in goal in Nigeria's last four matches in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers but was a non-playing sub in Tuesday's friendly versus Argentina.

Igho Kingsley