‘Not good at all’: NFF denies banning Osimhen from Super Eagles

The Nigeria Football Federation has described as false, viral reports that the NFF has banned Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen from the team, over his recent social media outburst.

NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi made this known in a statement on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.

According to him, the federation has neither instructed a process nor has a process been concluded to ban Osimhen from the national team.

Sanusi said: “The NFF hereby implores the media to join hands with the body to positively resolve issues and then focus on the big picture all the time, rather than needlessly escalate certain matters.

“There was no official communication from the NFF, yet some persons have gone to town to talk about a ban on Osimhen from the National Team. This is not good at all.”

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The general secretary said the focus of the NFF is to get the Super Eagles on track in the 2025 AFCON and 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

He added: “Our focus is to resolve all matters around the Super Eagles and be able to look ahead with confidence to the 2025 AFCON qualifiers and the remaining six matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification series.

“This is not the time to spread falsehood and foul the public space the more.”

It would be recalled that Osimhen recently went on a rant on social media against the former Super Eagles head coach, Finidi George, a few hours after he resigned from the job.

Osimhen accused Finidi of allegedly questioning his commitment to the national team.

The Napoli striker thereafter rained invectives on the coach and those who shared the point of view of the former Super Eagles manager.

Osimhen insisted that he got injured in Napoli’s last Serie A match against Lecce and went to see his doctor.

After the doctor’s report came out, Osimhen insisted he called Finidi to inform him of the injury, adding that he video-recorded the conversation.

He said he opted to still come to camp, but the coach refused asking him instead to stay away and recover.

The African Player of the Year was however angry that Finidi reportedly doubted his commitment to the Super Eagles.

The Star