Five players initially invited to the Super Eagles B camp ahead of the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) have been declared ineligible for the tournament after securing transfers to clubs outside Nigeria.
The affected players — Papa Daniel Mustapha, Waliu Ojetoye, Saviour Isaac, Abubakar Sadiq, and Philip Adejo — were ruled out by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) just days after the team opened camp in Ikenne, Ogun State.
“These five players have become ineligible to feature for Nigeria at the CHAN tournament. They have all moved out to sign for clubs outside of Nigeria,” the NFF said in a statement.
The players’ club affiliations before their transfers included:
- Abubakar Sadiq – Plateau United
- Philip Adejo – Abia Warriors
- Saviour Isaac – Rangers
- Papa Daniel Mustapha – Niger Tornadoes
- Waliu Ojetoye – Ikorodu City
Some of them had featured for Nigeria during the CHAN qualifiers against Ghana last year and were expected to play key roles in the team’s campaign.
As of Wednesday, 28 of the 35 invited players had reported to camp. Two others are also unavailable: Ifeanyi Onyebuchi of Rangers is sidelined due to injury, while goalkeeper Ifeanyi Harcourt of Sporting Lagos is on duty with Nigeria’s U-20 national team.
Head coach Eric Chelle opened camp on Monday with 21 players, with five more joining the following day. By Wednesday morning, 28 players were involved in training sessions. It remains uncertain whether replacements will be called up for the ineligible players.
The 2024 CHAN tournament — the eighth edition — will take place from August 2 to 20 across three East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Nigeria, runners-up in 2018 and third-place finishers in 2014, are drawn in Group D alongside defending champions Senegal, Sudan, and Congo.
The Super Eagles B will begin their campaign against Senegal at the Amman Stadium in Zanzibar, before facing Sudan at the same venue. Their final group match against Congo will be played at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
Nigeria continues to chase a first-ever CHAN title, having come close twice in the past decade.