Saudi Arabian club side, Al-Shabab have explained the real cause of Odion Ighalo’s withdrawal from the Super Eagles squad for the 2022 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Speaking through its Director of Professionalism, Majid Al-Marzouki, on a local television channel, Al Arabiya, the club blamed the Nigerian football authorities for the player’s inability to join up with the rest of the team.
The Super Eagles are already in Cameroon where they will be taking on Egypt in their first game on January 11.
Al-Shabab said they did not release the player because the NFF failed the FIFA regulation in sending invites to players.
According to them, the invitation letter reached the club later than the period specified for sending players’ call-up letters.
“We did not prevent the player from joining, but his invitation letter did not reach us within the period specified by FIFA for receiving the players’ call-up letters,” the club said.
“The FIFA Player Status Regulations stipulates that the local federation must notify the player and his club in writing of his summon 15 days before the start of the tournament, and it is advised to send a copy to the local federation of the club as well, which did not happen, and accordingly the coach told us that the player continues with us and will not join his team.
“There are no negotiations between us and the Nigerian Federation, and the player is committed to the decision, the situation is settled”.