Afcon 2021: Coach Eguavoen clears air on Ighalo

Super Eagles coach Augustine Eguavoen has further clarified the ongoing issue with Odion Ighalo and his delay in joining the Super Eagles squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Ighalo, 32, was initially given a deadline of Tuesday to confirm his availability by interim coach Eguavoen.

But Ighalo was not part of the squad that landed in Garoua on Wednesday night and a statement from the Nigeria Football Federation said he “is no longer expected as a result of issues with his Saudi Arabian club”.

His club, Al Shabab objected to the player’s involvement and reiterated that NFF missed the official deadline to call up the player.

Eguavoen has now disclosed that Ighalo is “doing everything possible” to join the team in Cameroon.

“We exchanged text messages and from his response he’s doing everything possible to come by,” Eguavoen told NFF TV.

The coach admitted that he had intentions of replacing Ighalo, who was top-scorer at the 2019 Afcon, however he will not be able to do so because of CAF’s rule.

“I thought of replacing him, I have a deadline and tried to replace Ighalo but what CAF is saying is that it’s only based on injuries or health reasons, that’s the only way you can replace players. So that’s the only reason holding us back.”

Article 72.2 of the Confederation of African Football’s tournament regulations state: “A player on the final list cannot be replaced unless seriously injured at the latest 24 hours at least before the beginning of the first match of his team.”

Eguavoen, however, stated that the federation is “putting in all efforts”, with the player also “doing his best from there.”

“Hopefully we will get a positive answer,” he said.

Ighalo is in fine form in Saudi Arabia, where he currently leads the goalscoring chart in the Saudi Pro League with 11 goals this season.

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on Sunday in Cameroon. But the Super Eagles will open their campaign on Tuesday against Egypt in a Group D clash.