January 06, (THEWILL) – The Director of professionalism at Saudi Arabia Football club Al-Shabab, Majid Al-Marzouki, has stated that the club did not prevent Nigerian forward Jude Odion Ighalo from joining his compatriots for the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
According to Al-Marzouki, the former Manchester United striker reversed his decision to retire from international football in November 2021, but Al-Shabab did not release their star player for the Cameroon tournament because the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) sent his invitation letter late, exceeding the FIFA deadline for sending players’ call-up letters.
It was widely reminiscent of the situation with English Premier League side Watford, where manager Claudio Ranieri claimed the lateness of the call-up letter for Emmanuel Dennis was going to preclude the striker from honouring the invitation to represent Nigeria in Cameroon.
Like Dennis, Ighalo has been in decent form for Al-Shabab since the start of the 2021-2022 season, scoring eleven goals in the Saudi Pro League, and the club was anxious to maintain its superstar.
Interim Super Eagles’ caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen faced a striker deficiency issue, with Victor Osimhen, Dennis, Ighalo, and Paul Onuachu, the top centre strikers in pecking order, unavailable for selection at the tournament.
Al-Marzouki explained on Wednesday in words broadcast by Arabic television news channel Al Arabiya. He explained: “We did not prevent the player from joining, but his invitation letter did not reach us within the period specified by FIFA for receiving the players’ call-up letters.
“The FIFA Player Status Regulations stipulates that the local federation must notify the player and his club in writing of his summon 15 days before the start of the tournament, and it is advised to send a copy to the local federation of the club as well, which did not happen, and accordingly the coach told us that the player continues with us and will not join his team.”
He finished by claiming that Al Shabab is not in talks with the Nigerian Federation on Ighalo’s release for the Africa Cup of Nations: “There are no negotiations between us and the Nigerian Federation, and the player is committed to the decision, the situation is settled.”
With five goals at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Ighalo was named the Golden Boot winner before announcing his retirement from international football in July that year.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
