Football
#EndSARS: Eagles May Boycott AFCON Qualifiers
There are strong indications that some Super Eagles stars may boycott next month’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nation double-header against Sierra Leone over safety concerns.
#EndSARS protests against police brutality and extrajudicial killings have rocked the country in the last two weeks, with the military and police killing peaceful protesters.
On Tuesday, eyewitnesses claim about seven lives were lost, with several others injured when soldiers opened fire on protesters in a bid to disperse them from the Lekki toll gate in Lagos — a focal demonstration ground for the #EndSARS campaign.
Our correspondent gathered that the overseas-based players were afraid of returning to Nigeria for Eagles games, for fear of being killed or maimed.
Eagles midfielder John Ogu wrote on Twitter, “The Politicians should ask their children to represent Nigeria in the next @NGSuperEagles @thenff upcoming games. I’m so devastated like right now.”
“We can’t be representing a country that kills our brothers and sisters. This killings and unrest must stop or we stay away,” another player based in Belgium said.
Leicester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho posted a cryptic message on Twitter with a broken heart emoji to express his dismay at the recent killings.
“God is watching. It will end in praise. We will keep speaking up,” he wrote.
According to the Italian publication II Mattino, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to make an offer of €90 million for Victor Osimhen, the top striker for Napoli.
According to the report, Osimhen’s contract has a release clause worth about €120 million, although Napoli President Aurelio de Laurentiis might accept a price less than that.
The Nigerian forward signed a new contract with Napoli last December, but the club is ready to let go of him at the end of the current campaign.
PSG, Chelsea, and Arsenal have all been mentioned frequently as potential suitors for the forward.
To resolve the striker’s future, intermediaries are allegedly collaborating with Roberto Calenda, his agent.
Osimhen, who left Ligue 1 team Lille in 2022 to join Napoli, has made 125 appearances for the Partenopei and scored 72 goals.
Super Eagles of Nigeria goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye has won Udinese’s Player of the Month Award for February after having one of the best runs of his football career.
Maduka Okoye is just coming out from a very difficult phase of his football career after losing his place in his club and international teams.
Recall that after the 24-year-old Nigerian goalkeeper made an error that contributed to the Super Eagles’ exit from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon, the goalkeeper has found it impossible to retain his first spot in the team.
Things got more complicated for Maduka Okoye when former Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, didn’t invite him for the just concluded 2023 AFCON in which Chippa United goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali made his name and grabbed the team’s first spot.
As he was struggling with the national team, Okoye was also struggling in Europe as he couldn’t get game time at Championship side, Watford.
His lack of game time forced him to move to Udinese on August 24, 2023. Initially, Okoye couldn’t make the first team at the Italian side until last January.
Okoye’s best month at the club came in February 2024 in which he helped the struggling team to win two games, draw once, and suffer one defeat. The Nigerian out-of-favour goalkeeper kept two clean sheets in the said month.
Due to that, before Udinese’s 2-0 defeat at home to Torino on Saturday, March 16, the Italian Serie A club presented him with the Player of the Month Award.
Note that the Nigeria international has made 13 Serie A appearances for the Italian club in which he conceded 18 goals. Football statistics platform, Opta, claimed that Maduka Okoye has never made an error leading to a goal since he joined Udinese.
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