U17 AFCON Qualifiers: 12 Players Fail MRI Test, No Cause For Alarm As Eaglets Wallop Black Arrows 11-0

Published: August 14, 2018

Allnigeriasoccer.com understands that the dreams of twelve promising footballers to represent Nigeria at the upcoming 2019 Africa U17 Cup of Nations qualifiers have been cut short after they failed the compulsory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests.

It should be noted that the Nigerian Federation did not want to take a risk and include the affected players on the roster for the West B Zone qualifiers that will hold in Republic of the Niger as they won't be eligible for the 2019 Africa U17 Cup of Nations and next year's Fifa U17 World Cup.

Of the forty players that took part in the MRI test to ascertain their eligibility for the U17 AFCON, 28 players were successful and the players with 5A and 5B have been decamped.

The Golden Eaglets coaching staff had recommended that sixty players should undergo the MRI examination but the Nigerian Federation approved for only forty due to the paucity of funds.

Suggestions that the remaining twenty players will undergo the MRI scan might not be feasible as the Nigerian Federation must submit a 25-man provisional roster for the U17 AFCON qualifiers by tomorrow, Wednesday.

There is no cause for alarm as only one or two key players failed the MRI test and the coaches have insisted that the core of the team is still there and no one is irreplaceable.

In their latest friendly, the Golden Eaglets walloped Black Arrows Bauchi 11-0, a result that backs up the arguments of team officials.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel