Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle included Al-Ittihad January signing George Ilenikhena in his list of players for the upcoming four team invitational tournament in Turkey, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively report.

Nigeria will take part in a four team tournament in Turkey, Involving Iran, Jordan and Costa Rica. It was originally billed to take place in Jordan but was moved due to the escalation of violence in the Middle East.

Super Eagles won’t be at the world cup, but will use the tournament to begin the second phase of the rebuild of the team under Chelle, who led the team to a third place finish at the AFCON in January.

They will open their campaign at the tournament against Iran on the 27th of March, while Jordan take on Costa Rica in the tournament’s other game.

Ilenikhena who moved to the Saudi Arabia outfit from French Ligue 1 side Monaco was among the players Chelle had in his list, but he requested to be left out. Holding onto his dream of playing for France where he was raised.

He is yet to be given a French passport and hasn’t represented them at any level , but at the age of 19 he is not in a hurry to commit his future to Nigeria.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Capped once by Nigeria at senior level in 2021 by former coach Gernot Rohr , Marcus Abraham of Portuguese side Estrela Amadora has been in the wilderness for almost six years.

He played in the double header friendly game against Cameroon as a 20 year old, viewed as a future prospect who will grow into becoming a mainstay of the team.

That dream failed to materialise, but this season he is delivering on the promises that made FC Porto to sign him for the B team four years ago. He however failed to make a breakthrough to the senior team leading to his exit in the summer.

At Estrela he has become a regular with five goals and five assists in 24 games for the modest team, who are 12th on the league table. On Friday he had two assists and a goal in their 4-0 win over Casa Pia.

His form caught the eyes of Brazilian top division side Atletico Paranaense who made a bid for his signing, but Estrela declined believing that in the summer he will be worth more and could move to a top team in a top European League.

Head coach of the senior team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has picked 23 players that will represent Nigeria in the upcoming FIFA international window, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria will take part in a four team tournament in Turkey, Involving Iran, Jordan and Costa Rica. It was originally billled to take place in Jordan but was moved due to the escalation of violence in the Middle East.

Super Eagles won’t be at the world cup, but will use the tournament to begin the second phase of the rebuild of the team under Chelle, who led the team to a third place finish at the AFCON in January.

They will open their campaign at the tournament against Iran on the 27th of March, while Jordan take on Costa Rica in the tournament’s other game.

Per the organiser, the final round of games will be played on the 31st of March, with Nigeria up against Jordan while Iran square up with Costa Rica.

In Chelle’s 23 man list, there was a recall for Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, and a first time call up to three new players in Philip Otele of German Bundesliga side Hamburg , Yira Sor of Belgium side Genk and Emmanuel Fernandez of Scottish side Rangers.

Goalkeepers: Maduka Ooye (Udinese FC, Italy); Adeleye Adebayo (Volos FC, Greece); Francis Uzoho (Omonia FC, Cyprus)

Defenders: Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Igoh Ogbu (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic); Emmanuel Fernandez (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)

Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Coventry FC, England); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium); Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (SS Lazio, Italy)

Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atletico Madrid, Spain); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Chidera Ejuke (Sevilla FC, Spain); Paul Onuachu (Trabzonspor AS, Turkey); Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain); Philip Otele (Hamburger SV, Germany); Collins Yira Sor (KRC Genk, Belgium)

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says it’s not true that head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has been offered a whopping $100,000 monthly salary to remain as coach of the Super Eagles, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Reports in recent days say the NFF have offered the coach fresh terms to keep him at his job for a further two years, with one year left to run on his present deal.

Chelle is demanding $150,000 a month, and reports went viral during the week that the NFF through the National Sports Commission (NSC) has proposed a salary of $100,000 a month to the Malian, who has a new agent.

A source at the NFF said those reports were wide off the mark as the NFF and the NSC have not discussed on the next move, after receiving the contract demand of Chelle.

He however said a meeting is expected to happen before the upcoming four team tournament in Turkey, or better still in June when they will be involved in a series of friendly games.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle didn’t include any player from the Nigeria domestic league in his squad for the upcoming four team friendly tournament in Turkey, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Nigeria will take part in a four team tournament in Turkey, Involving Iran, Jordan and Costa Rica. It was originally billed to take place in Jordan but was moved due to the escalation of violence in the Middle East.

Super Eagles won’t be at the world cup, but will use the tournament to begin the second phase of the rebuild of the team under Chelle, who led the team to a third place finish at the AFCON in January.

They will open their campaign at the tournament against Iran on the 27th of March, while Jordan take on Costa Rica in the tournament’s other game.

Per the organiser, the final round of games will be played on the 31st of March, with Nigeria up against Jordan while Iran square up with Costa Rica.

Ahead of the tournament, the coach has already submitted the list of players, we can exclusively reveal that no player in the Nigerian League was called up by the coach, according to our sources.

However, the coach is open to the idea of having some of them in his team in June when they will play some other friendly games.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has handed a first time invitation to a relatively unknown winger playing in the German Bundesliga ahead of their upcoming friendly games.

Nigeria will take part in a four team tournament in Turkey, Involving Iran, Jordan and Costa Rica. It was originally billed to take place in Jordan but was moved due to the escalation of violence in the Middle East.

Super Eagles won’t be at the world cup, but will use the tournament to begin the second phase of the rebuild of the team under Chelle, who led the team to a third place finish at the AFCON in January.

They will open their campaign at the tournament against Iran on the 27th of March, while Jordan take on Costa Rica in the tournament’s other game.

Per the organiser, the final round of games will be played on the 31st of March, with Nigeria up against Jordan while Iran square up with Costa Rica.

Ahead of the tournament, the coach has already submitted the list of players for the tournament and like we exclusively reported he included four new players in the team.

Among them is a winger in the German Bundesliga, who our source say has been on the radar of the coach for a while, but he refused to reveal the identity of the player.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed that they have received the judgement from FIFA throwing away their protest against DR Congo for fielding ineligible players in the world cup qualifiers playoff final in November 2025.

Nigeria protested that several players in the team of DR Congo didn’t pass the constitutional requirements to be termed citizens of DR Congo, as they hold dual nationality which is against their constitution.

FIFA ruled in favour of DR Congo, clearing the way for them to represent Africa at the intercontinental playoff later this month in Mexico, where there will be two tickets to the world cup.

However according to veteran Nigerian journalist Kunle Solaja, what Nigerians thought was a valid case was badly handled by the NFF who filed the protest.

He made this known in his reaction to the judgement in his article for Sportsvillagesquare.com. Below was what he revealed.

“According to the source, the NFF’s complaint was received by FIFA on November 28, 2025, nearly two weeks after the match in Rabat.

Under the Regulations Governing the Preliminary Competition for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, protests regarding player eligibility must follow strict timelines.

Article 8 of the regulations stipulates that any protest must first be communicated to the match commissioner within two hours of the completion of the match, and then followed by a detailed written submission within 24 hours.

The article states:

“Protests regarding the eligibility of players selected for matches in the preliminary competition shall be submitted in writing within two hours of the match and followed by a full written report within 24 hours.”

Because Nigeria’s protest was submitted on November 28 for a match played on November 16, it fell well outside the allowable window.

The source further revealed that the mandatory protest fee of 1,000 Swiss francs, which must accompany such submissions, was also not paid. As a result, the case was not formally processed by FIFA’s judicial bodies.

“The appeal that was widely reported was never actually entertained by the FIFA judicial authorities because it did not meet the procedural requirements,” the source explained, adding that the NFF was formally informed of the situation on March 9, 2026.

It took another week before the body made the decision known, indirectly with a claim of appeal of the judgment.

Under FIFA regulations, a protest must not only meet the deadline but must also include clear reasons, supporting evidence, and the relevant regulatory provisions before the Disciplinary Committee can examine the case.

Because the submission failed to satisfy these procedural conditions, FIFA dismissed the complaint without examining the substance of Nigeria’s allegations regarding player eligibility.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) say they will appeal the decision by FIFA disciplinary committee rejecting their petition against DR Congo for fielding ineligible players in the World Cup qualifiers playoff, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria protested that several players in the team of DR Congo were ineligible for the game, which they won 4-3 on penalties to pick the sole ticket to represent Africa at the intercontinental playoff in Mexico.

The players flouted the constitutional requirements to be a bonafide citizen of DR Congo, as they hold dual nationality which is forbidden and not recognized by the laws of the country.

Confirming the rejection of the petition, the General Secretary of the NFF Dr Sanusi Mohammed said they will appeal the decision, keeping alive the hope that they will get a favourable judgement.

“We have received the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on our petition, but we are not satisfied with the decision, which rejected our petition. I want to assure Nigerians that the NFF has immediately commenced the process of appealing the decision,” said NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi.