Nigerian-born players who have featured for other countries could yet wear the green and white colours of the Super Eagles of Nigeria following a new proposal by FIFA to help players switch eligibility and represent their second national team, reports Completesports.com.
Southampton’s Micheal Obafemi and Red Bull Salzburg ‘s Noah Okafor are players who can take advantage of the new rule and still play for the Super Eagles.
They have made one appearance each for Republic of Ireland and Switzerland respectively.
The new rule, if approved by the 211 national federations under the world soccer ruling body, will also see other African countries benefit from it.
The new rule, if approved, will let players switch eligibility if they played a maximum of three times for the first national team – including tournaments and qualifying games, before they turned 21, and at least three years earlier.
The proposal gives hope to players who are eligible for multiple countries but fell out of favour at their first national team, where they are bound after just a single minute playing in a competitive game.
It will take effect next month once It is approved at the FIFA congress on September 18 in Zurich, Switzerland.
A FIFA working group has tried for more than two years to shape the new proposal.
The proposal however bars nationality switch for any player who has played at the FIFA World Cup, European Championship, African Cup of Nations or any other Confederation competition.
33 Comments
Very nice one. African countries will be the biggest beneficiaries of this rule. Tomori, Tammy, Danjuma etc….life is giving y’all a 2nd chance.
I think Tammy has played more than 3 matches for English national team
All three were already 21 when they got their caps so not eligible to switch. Switch is allowed if their caps came before they turned 21
That’s great news. Truly its second chance to certain players . Nevertheless they’ll have to prove their worth especially as there are players ready to fight for a place . Look at Dessers you think he’ll bend down for a Tammy Abraham who chose England over Nigeria. Hell prove a point . I wish them all the best
They should tweak the rule further to accommodate those that desire to appear at the World Cup nah!!! We still love David alaba o…
Abraham already played 4 times. He doesn’t even qualify to switch
Tomori, Danjuma and co…are welcomed
but I won’t 4give “Tammy Abraham ” the manner in which he dump 9ja….even if he scores in moon am no more his fan
It’s indeed a very good proposal, hopefully it will be approve.
The hope of an African nation winning the World Cup will be closer when approved.
It’s a welcome development to world of football this gives handful opportunities to player to represent countries of their second choice after falling out favor with the first choice .. in the case of Nigeria I don’t think we need to celebrate such developments because we have pool of local and international player that we yet to cap can’t even successfully cap all of them, we wish Tammy good luck and rest that dumped us let’s focus on the player who pledges allegiance to green white green color and those that are willing to represent our great nation. We don’t need second hand players who couldn’t make it in other teams their heart wasn’t with us the only player we couldn’t have consider is David ALABA he’s heart was truly with us but we didn’t give him the chance he was cheering and rooting with us during the World Cup he even went to eagles camp .
@Dr Drey please permit to say nobody needs Tomiri and Tammy in the SE anymore.the will never get the fans support. They felt they are bigger than us. They can’t eat their and still have it. Thank God Tammy can’t say he is better than Osimhen. If you watch Lille vs che champions league you will understand what I mean.
In football you can never say never…! Tomori is welcome if he ‘repents’ and begs for forgiveness, I heard chelsea is planning to offload him. All that in yanga tolotolo go come down now. As for Tammy, as said above by esteemed forumites, he is already ineligible for a switch so we say ciao to him….till we meet at the foot of the saviour.
Tomori still have the option of playing for Canada. Obviously his England adventure sun has set at noon as he has falling down the perking order at Chelsea.Rennes of France want to buy him.Even before that he was a fringe player in the England set up and only played against Bulgaria because most of the regular England defenders were out injuried.
Tammy face a battle next season to keep his place with the arrival of Timo, Zayech , the expected arrival of Kai and a resurgent Giroud.If he fails to keep his place, it is good bye to his England carreer.No sentiments. Unlike with the African national teams that will still call him up and he can use that platform to relaunch himself.I see him going on Loan.
Either way, I wish them both the best and no hard feelings at all.Hope Eze is watching and taking note
No matter how them FIFA reviews and updates and amends the rules and laws fa….IT WILL NOT SUIT OR FAVOURS one player…and that’s TAMMY DE ABRAHAMS….End of story!!!
…A man who drags some ant-infested firewoods to his home, should not get upset or angry when Lizards, Frogs or Birds comes to VISIT!!!…
@Prince
Oh la la! Such colourful words again Tammy. His body would be shaking as if blasted with the harmattan wind.
To hell with Tammy! To hell with Tammy! X100. He’s at best at Dennis Emmanuel level. Even if they amend the law to suit him well. We don’t need him.
As for TOMORI, he will only be allowed to play for Nigeria if he comes out with Public Apology! Period. Else, he’s not needed too. The Competition we have in Defense is enough sef. Balogun, Ekong, Semi,Omeruo,Awaziem
Oga calm down…I know say you dey provoke. But even a teary eye still sees. Someone who averages over 20 goals per season is definitely at a higher level than Dennis
@Drey… Dennis is a winger so don’t attribute goalscoring as the only meter to measure how God he is… Dennis is sound!
Oga Drey, put Dennis in a team such as Chelsea with good team mates like that and see if he will not score even more than Tammy. Dennis is more skillful and whenever he’s played in the CF role, he still shines. So what are you saying?? Abegii..I don’t know why whenever it comes to our Nigerian players, people seem to just be so bent on tarnishing their obvious talents. And am not surprised as with Drey cuz I noticed he’s been all out against Emmanuel Dennis this week. I don’t know what the guy has done to you
@Dr. Dre, that’s a debate for another day, Tammy May be more technical, but Dennis is way more skillful, but is very tough folks to defend Nigeria players. Imagine with all the skills Dennis possesses if he can train harder, be more dedicated like Tammy or some these European players the boy would be a top baller.
Good development but i know these europeans will be forced to use african eligible players like four times to render them useless now mark my word.
Fikayo Tomori was already 21 when he featured for the Three Lions last November, so I don’t think he’s still eligible for a switch.
@ Lloyd
Hahahaha…tarnish their image….because I am less Nigerian than they are right…? Or becuase others like Osimhen, Sadiq, Dessers are more Nigerian than them. The truth really hurts.
You seem to have forgotten that Tammy Abraham also played for less fancied clubs like Bristol city, Swansea and Aston Villa and was still banging in goals with reckless abandon, averaging twice the number of goals Dennis has averaged playing as a forward for the biggest club in Belgium…?
Like I said earlier…calm down…I know say you dey provoke. But Tammy who averages over 20 goals per season is definitely at a higher level than Dennis.
@JimmyBall
Please when last did you watch Club Brugge play…? How many matches have you watched Dennis play as a winger for club brugge in the last season…? We all watched the UCL and the UEL….tell us which of the matches Dennis played as a winger. If dennis is a winger for Brugge so where does Okereke play, where does diatta play, where does these congolese boy Njonge play…? Continue ramping up excuses. Ok…agreed Dennis is a winger…oya show us his statistics as a winger let us compare it to other top class wingers and know whether he is in their class or not…LMAO. Dennis is sound yes we know, Dennis is good yes we know…but he is not even as good, slimmy, or skillful as a winger as players like Samu, Kalu and Onyekuru and as a Forward he is not even in the class of Tammy. Tell yourself the truth sometimes. It will do you a lot of good.
@SunnyB
Of what use is a beautiful handwriting if you dont use it to pass exams…? Of what use is skill without figures to show for it if your yearly average of goals and assists is 7 goals and 3 assists per season….and we are not ever talking of the top 5 leagues. By Uefa coefficients 7 goals 3 assists average per season in Belgium in about 4 goals 2 assists per season in the top 5 leagues and ‘patriotic’ Nigerians say he’s on the same level with someone who averages close to 20 goals per season…? LMAO.
I love you guys’ type of patriotism ….these types of patriotism the will make someone tell us Nwakali is far better than all of our Midfielders including Mikel….LMAO or that Musa Mohammed is as good as Joshua Kimmich….LMAO
@Drey… You are being too strict with your assessment on Dennis, I bet you in terms of crafty and sleek intelligent play… only Samuel Chukwueze compares to Dennis Bonaventure for now, forget whether he is yet to have as many caps as the rest… You. Clamour for stats… OK @Drey… I want you to comment specifically on Peter Olayinka who some of us with football eagle eyes knows should be starting all Super Eagles matches as per current levels and usefulness applies… I want your comment on Olayinka, lemme see how sound you know your objective analyses… I am waiting!
“…You are being too strict with your assessment on Dennis…”..LMAO.
Pls explain what you mean by “too strict”. Ok…You want me to be “lenient” with my assessment and attribute what Dennis doesnt have to him, call him what he is not, put him on the same pedestal as CR7 and praise him to the highest heavens as the next best talent to come out of Nigeria after Kanu and Jayjay…? Or you want me to pad up his stats to match that of Tammy so that I can sweeten your belle by joining you to say he is on the “same level” with someone who has been banging in goals in dozens every season since he was a youth player…? I’m sorry…Im not that kind of person. I am not here to ego-trip anybody or any player. The last time I checked, it doesnt take 8 months to submit 1 bid…just 1 bid for a player from the Belgian league if he were as awesome and outstanding as you want me to assess him.
And I honestly dont know how Peter Olayinka entered this matter or what you mean by “I should comment specifically on Peter Olayinka”. Or is Peter Olayinka too on the same level with Tammy…?? LMAO…or maybe you want to use your “football eagle eyes” to also tell us he is better than all SE strikers including Yekini, the way you claimed Nwakali (who has not even played 1st division football in his career yet) is far better than all SE midfielders including Mikel (people who have spent years playing in top leagues like the EPL and won accolades for themselves)…LMAO. You really get Eagle eye true true. Abeg go and remove it and get normal human eyes so you can see like a human being.
I dont know how many of Slavia Prague games in the Czech league you watched last season for you to just be dropping names arbitrarily. You can choose Olayinka (with 6 goals and 5 assists in all competitions) as your “regular starter” when you become SE coach, but I’ll rather give Sadiq Umar who scored 17 goals and 17 assists in all competitions) a starting shirt ahead of Olayinka….that is even if Osimhen, Dessers or Ighalo have not grabbed the starting shirt already. On the wings the likes of Samu, Kalu, Ejuke, Simon, Musa and Onyekuru will have to all be injured at the same time before Olayinka can have a space there.
Mind you are not close to being in capacity to rate my analyses. With all sense of humility even CSN has acknowledged my analyses with star comments and comments of the week accolades and everything I say is often backed by facts and figures which are verifiable….If that is not objectivity, i doubt what is…?!
Come on Jimmyball,Dr Drey is being objective ,calling a spade a spade.Tammy is way ahead of Dennis.
Let Tammy Abraham and his cohorts rust in the bench of the three lions of England where their heart is so desire or truly belong, we will continue to hold player like David Alaba in high esteem based on his love for his father’s land unlike (awon oyinbo gidi oyinbo alawoo dudu) that failed to look at their colour.
Danjuma, Tammy and Tomori were already 21 when they got their caps so will not be eligible to switch anyway (the switch is for players under 21 when they were capped). The three that come to mind who can still switch are Michael Obafemi from Ireland, Noah Okafor from Switzerland both still under 21, plus Lukas Nmecha who has submitted paperwork to switch from England to Germany.
HOWEVER, they will only be eligible to switch if they do not have any further caps for 3 years, effectively until after the Qatar worldcup 2022. It’ll be easy for any country to offer them 10 minutes in a dead rubber game just to stop them switching
@Big D, you forgot Tomori has not been capped by England. He was invited…Yes! But he never tasted action so he can still play for Nigeria
@Unicorn, Fikayo Tomori has one cap, he played 6 minutes of the UEFA qualifiers against Kosovo in November 2019. Before that he was on the bench against Czech rep, Bulgaria and Montenegro.
Dennis and olayinka are not up to tammy abraham, or any of those eagles wingers dr drey mentioned. Why are we over hyping these guys. Becos dey managed to play championsleague. Kalu, onyekuru and moses simon where once in that same belgium and their records where better than that of dennis. Kalu and simon also played in the slovach league wich i think equals the cecks league where olayinka plays too. They also outclassed olayinka if u go see their records u will understand. If dennis is better than tammy do u think he will still be in belgium? And why will nigeria be chasing tammy when dennis couldnt secure a shirt in thesame naija team..? if he is better than onyekuru kalu and simon these guys where bought from belgium to france and england, why is dennis case taking too long? As far as i am concern dennis and olayinka still have alot to prove.
…I wont be surprised if they one day say Alampasu is on the same level with Neuer because he won the golden gloves at U17 world cup….LMAO
Hahahaha.Neuer ke
Even Gernort Rohr will not consider Tammy and Tomori.These are the players that made GR insist that players should not be begged before playing for the SE.Abeg ,there are still a lot of players waiting to be discovered and tested o jare.let’s focus on those ones and leave Tammymaradona and friends alone.