The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has given the latest concerning Leicester City forward Ademola Lookman’s international allegiance to Nigeria from England.
Lookman, 24, was part of the junior Three Lions that won the Under-20 World Cup in 2017 but is eligible to play for the Super Eagles through his Nigerian parents.
Despite opting to represent the Nigeria, the NFF is yet to apply to FIFA for a nationality switch because he has played for England at Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 level.
“We are aware of Lookman’s desire to play for us and I have spoken to him as well. However, there is a process to it,” NFF technical assistant Tunde Adelakun told BBC Sport Africa.
“After this process, then comes the consideration and decision of the head coach [Gernot Rohr] on whether or when he deems it fit to get him involved.”
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Nigeria have previously succeeded in convincing several former England youth internationals, such as Sone Aluko, Victor Moses, Shola Ameobi, Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina, to swap allegiances.
Meanwhile, the quartet of Sheyi Ojo (Millwall), Ovie Ejaria (Reading), Chuba Akpom (PAOK) and Ike Ugbo (Genk), born in England to Nigerian parents, have also made themselves available to the three-time African champions.
Lookman has scored two goals in nine appearances since joining Leicester City on a season-long loan from German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig in August.
He also spent last season on loan at Fulham, scoring four goals in 35 appearances, but was unable to save them from relegation from the Premier League.
He joined Charlton Athletic’s academy in 2014 and made a rapid rise through the ranks before his first-team debut in November 2015.
Over two seasons, he went on to feature 49 times in all competitions for the Addicks, scoring 12 goals, before signing for Everton on a four-and-a-half-year-deal in January 2017.
He scored four goals in 48 appearances for the Toffees, before enjoying a brief loan spell with RB Leipzig in the 2017-18 season which led to a permanent five-year deal in July 2019.
27 Comments
YOU SEE IT. Ovie Ejaria is a wonderful midfielder. Guys please by all means Rohr Lovers you have our full vote to keep deceiving yourselves and supporting Rohr. when it is all done. we will try again in four years then 8 then 12 and so it will go. Why because na Naija we dey LOL!!!!
Lookman if you know what is good for your career play for England Bro naija na Jungle!
https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/59120687
FUll story.
@MONKEY POST it is a waste, some where saying that NFF contacted VM just to full us sound individuals who are more updated than them about their GOD father Pinnick and Rohr. forgetting that we also love this team.
While we all know very well that, VM did not even receive as much as a Missed call from Oga DUMB DUMB Rohr
This is just a baseless story that doesn’t signify anything. I thought NFF had applied for his switch??? So why the “.are yet to apply” na wa ohh. I cap from England in a competitive game and that will be a spoiler by the brits. No be curse or anything but before Nigerianas a whole can get better some corrupt individuals will have to die off…..
Mr.Pinnick and Mr. Rohr should please contact Victor Moses and bring him back to the super eagles before we start pppppppppp
If this story is true, be rest assured, it all has to do with Lookman not understanding how to bribe his way through, either through allowing those idiots to manage him or him handing out direct cash; as he Lookman isn’t used to doing such. Could most likely be same reason SE still waiting endlessly to cap Ejaria, Oliseh, even Bassey. We might later in the years come to find out, this same reason caused Eze to rather commit to even England U-21. Very very sad….
@Glory….we thank God that People are beginning to see why most of this foreign born players run away from playing for SE…… it’s not because they are too talented for SE……..its because There are many things that go on underground in Nigerian football……Alaba Saka Alli Ogbonna Adeyemi Eze Abraham and many more loved Nigeria so much and they knew they had a longer and more glamorous international career with Nigeria but they opted for other countries Because Nigeria is too complicated for their liking…….Many film tricks and contradictory body languages……We say A but do B in the secret…….We even decieve ourselves sometimes inorder to decieve others……They figured it out that it’s better to have few honest and well earned caps in a foreign nation than to have 100 dubious and fraudulent caps with Nigeria.
Glory, you made a solid observation there!
I wish am not from this country. Everything about Nigeria sucks..Am patiently waiting for Afcon, alot will be revealed
@Akp, what else do one call corruption,if not having Aigbogun, accused right and left of collecting bribe during his U-20 tenure, as SE players scout, as well as NFF officials reinstating Salisu, caught red-handed in the act of collecting bribe.
Nigeria, win or lose, I am no longer interested. Just not worth it. Will come back when we start doing things right.
#bringbackvm@spartatoeagles4capegame.
Them never give them bribe that’s why all those Boyz never invited
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.goal.com/en-ug/amp/news/lookman-moves-to-switch-allegiance-from-england-to-nigeria/1iehvu1fw8dsw11wn9rc7o5so7&ved=2ahUKEwjA-P6Ckv_zAhXRGewKHc8qCxYQFnoECAwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1QzoBUctmuvp8pMDKdUY5O&cf=1
Thought is already going as Tunde Adelakun had already said it before na…
Why are these people so backwards with their lies na… They will say this one today and tomorrow they will say another one.. these NFF people are definitely full of lies mehn!
There are certain dark shades happening within the NFF and the selection of players for SE. These dark shades like bribery and some disgusting Stuffs are going on within the football institution.
Imagine Salisu Yusuf who was caught taking bribes and later given punishments by the world governing body was later reinstated back is an eyesore to our football.
It’s a sad situation as those players we clamour for chose to play for Other national teams instead of the Super Eagles shows the bad taste we be got
On 27th of January 2020, Tunde Adelakun was reported to have granted an interview via goal.com where he stated that the papers for Ademola Lookman’s switch were already in place awaiting FIFA’s clearance..
Few days ago NFF president Amaju Melvin Pinnick was quoted to have said that soon Lookman’s switch will be completed and today again Tunde Adelakun is telling us something contradictory, meanwhile, super eagles coach gernot Rohr said it unequivocally via elegbete tv radio sports that he has included Ademola Lookman’s name as well as ovie ejaria in the 40man list to be submitted to CAF ahead of the upcoming AFCON to be hosted by Cameroon next year January…
I don’t think Rohr would have included Ademola Lookman’s name in the list if he hasn’t already filed for switch…
So, by the virtue of these descripancies I ask, what’s the true state of Ademola Lookman’s switch to Nigeria national team… Started already or not?
It makes sense to believe that Rohr will not include some who is not ‘Confirmed’ to be eligible to play for Nigeria.
Therefore, the likes of Ejaria, Lookmam, Ike Ugho, Sheyi Ojo and Bright Osayi-Samuel have all applied for the switch and final confirmation is either done or near being complete. Pinnick and Rohr will not go ahead and mention it, if it is still in the works.
Adelakun is just blowing smoke up our behinds.
Naija is blessed.but lack of good managers keep dragging us backwards.imagin with the array Of stars in our attack na ighalo una dey call back. Shameful.
Ebuehi dropped for Shehu to play
Bassey not tested/dropped for Sanusi and Jamilu to play (even though they are trying)
Lookman and Ejaria’s papers taking forever for Musa to play but Umar not tested for Ighalo to play?So Strange.
Nigeria is no man’s land in every sense of the word and in every department.
Ike Ugbo who said sometime ago that he has pledged his future to Nigeria, is now a Canadian player. What baffles me most is the speed at which the change of nationality was done when ours are taking forever
See full story here https://t.co/Ck6WO8FJ5T?amp=1
If it is true that Ike Ugbo has been cleared to play for Canada, then it only means he Never applied to switch to Nigeria in the first instance. We may have probably been fed with fictitious reports by the (Nigerian Media).
Because per fifa statutes, a player who has filled an application for international switch to one country cannot play for ANY OTHER country until the switch is completed. Secondly, A player cannot apply for international switch to 2 different countries, either at the same time or at different times. That is why the process is often referred to by FIFA as “One-Time International Switch of Allegiance”.
And going by the dynamics of the procedure governing international switch, He couldnt have been pursing a switch to Nigeria less than a month ago and all of a sudden get FIFA approval and outright clearance to play for Canada all within the space of a month.
We have been or are being treated to some misinformation somewhere.
You are on point @Dr.drey
I don’t understand why it is taking so long for these international switches to be processed.
Could it be true that our officials are dragging their legs because they’re waiting to have their palms greased?
Balogun, Ekong, Aina, Aribo, and other foreign born talents, did these ones also have to “see somebody” before they got invited?
Maybe Ejuke too was excluded because he never “shake body”?
I honestly believe that Rohr is the main reason SE camp has not turned into a full fledged market, where spots in the team are for sale to the highest bidder. That is why they want him out at all costs. The man dey pour sand for their garri with his transparency.
We need a specific law passed to fight bribery and corruption in our football, especially our national teams. They should call it the DAVID ALABA law.
Imagine that Nigeria could have had Alaba in our 2010, 2014 and 2018 world cup teams! We would still have him today, but thanks to bribery and corruption, we lost this great talent who loves Nigeria so much to Austria! The Austrians are clinking their glasses, toasting to our foolishness. Hahahaha, those idiot Nigerians, thank goodness they left Alaba for us to enjoy!
Any officials caught facilitating bribery and corruption needs to spend a significant amount of time in jail. Let every bribe-collecting hoodlum in the glass house know that he is risking 10 years or more of his life whenever he opens his grubby hands to receive filthy lucre.
Of course, corruption in the NFF is only a microcosm of a bigger problem, corruption in Nigeria as a whole. We need to stand up as one in this country and declare TOTAL WAR against corruption.
All of them thieving hooligans in the glass house will surely reap what they are sowing!
I watched one of Elegbete’s interviews with Rohr. And Elegbete made certain comments which I held on the palm of my left hand. He said Rohr is bad in the eyes of some journalists who have “recommended” players to the coach, but whom the coach refused to play their players.
Whether for or against Rohr, that statement carries a lot of weight and should be subjected to investigation, because it says a lot about why the harshest and most deceptively callous “critics” have been the ones that have been unraveled to own AAA player agency or BBB sports marketing company or CCC holdings.
Just as you have asked…are the likes of Aribo, Iwobi, Aina, Akpoguma, Ebuehi, Ekong, Bassey also greasing palms to get places in the SE…? The the likes of Victor Moses, Victor Anichebe, Sone Aluko, Tom-Dele Bashiru, Nnamdi Oforbor also grease palms to get places in the Nigerian set up…???
I rest my case.
I have to say this. At the end of the day, I can only talk about what I see and what I know. I refuse to accuse someone of guilt when I have no proof. Accusing someone of guilt based on hearsay or a hunch or feeling is wrong, and a recipe for total chaos in society at large.
I believe Ighalo is in the team today because of his quality. Because of what he can bring to the team. I believe that this is Rohr’s decision, and it makes sense to me.
However, if I’m wrong, and it is true that Ighalo bribed his way into the national team, then sooner or later, he himself and all those who he bribed will surely suffer the consequences!
They will pay dearly for what they have done, sooner or later.
We need the DAVID ALABA law promulgated asap. Any players and officials that are caught red-handed, or proven to give or receive bribes should go straight to prison for lengthy sentences, minimum of 10 years.
The war against corruption needs to start somewhere.
@Pompei;
You talk as if you are not Nigerian and in total disconnect with what is going on in Nigeria at the moment. Who go enforce David Alaba law? I laff in greek. The odour and stench of corruption is everywhere. I followed a little bit the story of the Ikoyi building collapse and tears rolled down my eyes. My little boy saw me and asked me several times why have got tears in my eyes. I didn’t know what to say to the innocent boy
“Of course, corruption in the NFF is only a microcosm of a bigger problem, corruption in Nigeria as a whole. We need to stand up as one in this country and declare TOTAL WAR against corruption”.
Kinesis, this is an excerpt from one of my postings on this very thread.
You probably missed it.
So you can see that your insinuation that I’m in total disconnect with what is going on in Nigeria at the moment, is ill-advised.
I am well aware of how steeped Nigeria is in corruption, a problem that cascades across every echelon of our society.
I try to view everyone I come across as having bona fide intentions, unless the contrary is obvious. For instance, if I go to the pharmacy, I want to, and need to, believe that the pharmacist is not going to sell me chalk and call it Panadol. For the sake of my health and sanity, I need to trust the pharmacist.
Talking about the Ighalo situation, I’m not an affiliate of Rohr or Ighalo, or of the useless NFF ONIGBESE, so all I know about Ighalo’s recall to the national team is what I read in the news. I can not, and will not presume that the invitation was the result of a bribe, because I don’t have evidence to prove that. And for the sake of my health and sanity, I will not go around being suspicious of people or procedures ad infinitum.
I will always assume that people are acting, or attempting to act, IN GOOD FAITH. For the sake of my health and sanity.
If it turns out that Ighalo and others are playing Nigerians for fools, then you can be sure that eventually, all of them will pay dearly for their actions. Such is life.
The journey of a thousand miles must begin somewhere. We have to start this war against corruption, and it begins with every Nigerian, including you and I, TAKING A LONG, HARD LOOK AT THE MIRROR.
Hopefully, if we start this war here, it will gain momentum. The DAVID ALABA law is a start.
Victor Moses said he is not coming to play for Nigeria so forget him