Fifa : Rohr Can Name 35 Players On Provisional World Cup Roster, Squad Must Be Announced May 14

The governing body of football, Fifa, has approved that countries participating at the 2018 World Cup can name 35 players in their provisional squad list, an additional five players compared to previous tournaments.

Argentina sports newspaper Ole writes that Fifa announced a change on Thursday that 35 players will be part of the list, of which the coaches must choose 23 players for the tournament in Russia.

The deadline for teams to name their squad list is June 4, ten days before the opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia, while the 35-man provisional rosters must be named on May 14.

In 2014, the Nigeria Football Federation had announced a provisional roster containing 30 players, but Daniel Akpeyi, Elderson Echieijle (injury), Joel Obi, Nnamdi Oduamadi, Nosa Igiebor, Sunday Mba and Victor Obinna were dropped.

Bassey Akpan, Onyekachi Apam, Terna Suswan, Obi Mikel (injury), Victor Anichebe, Ikechukwu Uche and Peter Utaka were cut from the 30-man provisional roster for the World Cup in South Africa.

Super Eagles coach Gernor Rohr will name his final 23-man squad for Russia 2018 after the friendly against England on June 2.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel