BEVERLY HILLS, February 01, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s football administrator and President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Melvin Pinnick has confirmed Reading Football Club’s midfielder Ovie Ejaria’s desire to switch his football allegiance to Nigeria, saying this has been greenlighted by world football governing body, FIFA.
Reading FC is a football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England that plays in the Championship, which is the second tier of English football, one level lower than the top flight English football, the Premiership.
Pinnick stressed that Ejaria’s confirmation was the only one he was aware of as rumours surfaced last week in the local media about eight overseas-born players, including Ejaria, that had been granted permission by the world body to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
The other players that were rumoured to have been granted the allowance to switch nationalities included those intending to switch from England to Nigeria like Fulham forward Ademola Lookman, Southampton’s Nathan Tella, Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo, Sheyi Ojo of Cardiff City, Chukwunonso “Noni” Madueke of PSV, and forward Ike Dominique Ugbo, who is on loan at Cercle Brugge from English giants Chelsea.
There is also Jordan Torunarigha, who is currently a German professional footballer, playing as a defender for Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga. He is the son of former footballer Ojokojo Torunarigha and the brother of current footballer Junior Torunarigha.
“Ovie Ejaria has been cleared by FIFA to play for us (Nigeria), that I can confirm to you, I’m not aware of the others,” Pinnick clarified when it was put to him if he could confirm the news of these switches.
Although, there are hungry talents from the local scene with the drive to fill in slots in the Super Eagles squad and make a name for themselves, the injection of these talents into the starting lineup of the senior men’s national team will boost their performance indices and be a catalyst for improvement in different segments of the squad structure as it currently stands.
However, the technical acuity to make these talents blend, whether from abroad or included from the domestic league will be an issue to consider given how much talent already exists in the Super Eagles side which has yet to make the team live up to the average expectations for the country and football fans.
The 23-year-old Ejaria was born in England to Nigerian parents and had represented the English at age grade levels, winning the 2017 Under-20 World Cup as a part of that team.
“If you want to play for the Super Eagles, you have to write to the federation informing them of your intention,” Pinnick stated, as one of the reasons it has not been brought to the notice of the NFF, the desire for these other players to switch their football allegiance to Nigeria.
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.
