Samson Akinyoola wasn’t included in the squad of Benin Republic for their upcoming AFCON qualifiers game against the Super Eagles of Nigeria due to complexity over his Nigerian roots, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
24 year old Akinyoola was born in the Nigerian city of Lagos, where he started his football career playing for 36 Lions, before taking his trade to Venezuela where he represented Caracas FC.
Two years ago he moved to Egyptian giants Zamalek and subsequently got his first call up to the senior national team of Benin Republic, where he has two caps but it appears it will take a while before he adds to that tally.
Head coach of the Benin Republic team Gernot Rohr has left him out of his team owing to a lack of clarity over his international status, and if he is really eligible to play for Benin Republic.
Rohr is said to be wary of suffering a possible deduction if the forward who is currently involved in a contract dispute with Zamalek plays against the Super Eagles. His attempt to get some help from sources in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has yielded no result.
The coach who managed the Super Eagles for a period of almost seven years isn’t sure the issue will be cleared anytime soon, and will rather use the players who have no such issues against Nigeria on the 7th of September in Uyo.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
