Nigeria Football Federation technical director Augustine Eguavoen has denied media claims that he had an influence on the selection of players for the Nigeria national team. The comments from Eguavoen come after Nigeria head coach Éric Chelle announced his first squad on Tuesday for upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.
The Malian tactician whittled down his 39-man provisional squad to 23 players ahead of the two important qualifying fixtures against Rwanda and Zimbabwe this month. Notable omissions include veteran forward Ahmed Musa, midfielder Frank Onyeka, forward Kelechi Iheanacho and left-back Zaidu Sanusi.
Eguavoen said that Chelle is in total control of the team and has the responsibility of picking his players.
“I want Nigerians to get clarity on something. I’ve been technical director for a few years and I have attended FIFA workshops where I ask questions a lot and they made it clear to me that the senior national team coach anywhere in the world has a final say on who he wants on his list."
“We can interact, we cannot interfere. If he says no, it’s no. That is why they can fire a senior national team coach at any time. So I will say Éric Chelle took his time to prepare this list and he has the final say,” Eguavoen told SuperSport.
The Super Eagles will resume qualifying against the Amavubi of Rwanda on March 21 at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali before hosting Zimbabwe at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Tuesday, March 25.
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