Manu Garba Says He Has Been Abandoned By NFF Ahead Of U17 AFCON; MRI Tests To Cost N4 Million

As part of their preparations for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria U17s on Wednesday beat Kaduna based Mutunchi Academy 7-0 in a friendly played at the Abuja National Stadium.

Two days earlier they struggled to a 1-0 victory over John Utaka Football Academy.

With less than three weeks to the start of the competition in Tanzania, Golden Eaglets coach Manu Garba says without the conduct of the MRI test, he cannot say he has a team yet.

''Obviously we have players who have not got the opportunity to play that can make the team to Tanzania, that is after the MRI,'' Manu Garba said.

''We don't know who is who now until after the MRI has been conducted, why I didn't give those new players a chance to play is the fact that all the players that played today for us have passed the MRI before and we are sure at least 90 percent will go to Tanzania.

''I must say that there are a lot of players that can displace some of the players that played today.

''This team can only get stronger with the inclusion of those players I'm talking about especially in the offensive and midfield sector.''

The two time FIFA U-17 World Cup winner says his team has been abandoned by the Nigeria Football Federation.

Garba says the NFF are yet to conduct the compulsory MRI test for his players and that this is holding back their preparations.

''We have submitted our list to the Federation, we are just waiting for the Federation to give us the date but it appears we are getting behind time because we are expected to submit a provisional list of 25 players two weeks before the first game.

''We have more than 20 players that are capable of displacing some of the players on ground, like I said earlier it's MRI that will decide first.

''Remember before we went to Niger, we had several unverified players and we don't know if they are going to be retained.

''That's why we want the MRI to be done, so that we can know the players we have on ground, the MRI is really holding the team.''

The MRI tests are expected to cost the Nigerian Federation around N4 million and the NFF are well known for giving less attention to the junior national teams.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel