The ongoing screening for Nigeria’s Flying Eagles, aimed at selecting players for the 2024 WAFU B U20 Championship in Togo, has reportedly been compromised by government officials, football agents, and academy owners, according to sources speaking to *The PUNCH*.
Players participating in the selection at the FIFA Goal Project in Abuja expressed concerns about the process being manipulated. Several players, speaking anonymously for fear of repercussions, indicated that candidates were being sent by influential figures, complicating the selection process for the technical team led by Aliyu Zubairu.
“Some players are sent here by top government officials with letters or through agents and academy owners, all vying for a spot on the team. Players who were dropped have been reinstated by officials insisting they must be selected,” one player revealed.
Another expressed frustration over the conditions in the camp, which had initially been plagued by mosquitoes and bed bugs before moving to the regular facility with inadequate meals.
The Flying Eagles recently played a friendly against Water FC at the FIFA Goal Project and are scheduled to face Malantaki in further preparations for the upcoming tournament, which will determine the representative for the 2025 Africa U20 Cup of Nations in South Africa.
