Flying Eagles: Govt officials, agents, academy owners take over U-20 screening

The ongoing Flying Eagles screening exercise, intended to select players for the 2024 WAFU B U20 Championship in Togo, has reportedly been taken over by government officials, football agents, and academy owners.

Sources involved in the selection process, held at the FIFA Goal Project in Abuja, revealed to *The PUNCH* that the screening has been infiltrated by these external parties. As a result, the Aliyu Zubairu-led technical crew has been left in a state of confusion, with the process allegedly skewed by undue influence.

Players, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions, expressed their frustrations, claiming that the exercise has strayed far from its merit-based selection principles. With the tournament scheduled for October and November, concerns are rising over the integrity of the team that will eventually be selected to represent Nigeria.

“Some players are either sent here by top government officials with letters or by football academy owners and agents, all looking for spots on the team. Some of them that were dropped were sent back to the coach by the government officials, who insist that they must be picked. The number of agents here is an indication of what is about to happen,” said one of the players.

“The coach is reportedly very confused and under immense pressure regarding whom to select, considering the government officials’ candidates, agents, academy owners, and so on,” he added.

“We were initially kept in a space infested with mosquitoes and bed bugs before being moved to the usual camp site, where the feeding is very poor,” he said.