World football governing body FIFA made head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle to drop Derby County midfielder David Ozoh from his squad for the friendly game against Russia, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Ozoh who represented England at U18 level agreed to switch his nationality to Nigeria after a meeting with Chelle towards the end of last season, while on loan from Crystal Palace to Derby County.
He was signed permanently in the summer by Derby and was expected to be in the team of Nigeria, but was told he will require a switch of nationality process to be approved by FIFA before he can play for Nigeria.
Although he didn’t play any competitive game for the youth team of England, but the standard practice of getting clearance from FIFA to play for another country hasn’t been approved.
Chelle is hopeful that the 21 year old will be cleared before the next international window in November, where he is expected to play for the U23 team in the AFCON qualifiers.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
