News
NFF Prioritizes Pre-camp MRI For Players To Prevent Repeat Of Disqualification
- The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has mandated pre-camp MRI scans for Golden Eaglet.
- This is to ensure players meet the correct age bracket, to prevent past incidents where teams were depleted.
- The NFF’s strict approach aims to maintain the integrity of player selection and prevent age-related issues.
Eko Hot Blog reports that The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has made pre-camp MRI scans a priority for all players to ensure that only those within the correct age bracket represent the country at the U17 men’s national team, the Golden Eaglets.
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According to the team’s media officer, Francis Achi, the football body is taking no chances to avoid a repeat of the extensive reduction of the team due to failed MRI tests in the past.
“NFF is very serious about selecting players within the age bracket, not only to ensure that many of the selected players come true to ranks but also to avoid previous situations whereby teams got severely depleted after players who had passed the screening exercise were dropped after failing the MRI test,” Achi told PUNCH Sports Extra on Sunday.
“To this end, every player scouted is mandated to have an MRI scan at designated hospitals approved by the NFF. After that has been done and the player has passed Grades 1–4, he can be allowed to join up with the rest of the team.
“Even NFF is not accepting Grade 5 because the player will exceed the required age before the FIFA U17 World Cup,” he added.
Nigeria Golden Eaglet Team
Players failing the MRI test has been a persistent issue for the team for several years. That’s why the NFF is diligently working to address it this season.
In February 2023, despite an initial directive for all players in camp to undergo their private MRI tests before an official one conducted by the NFF, three key players who were in Ghana for the WAFU qualifiers failed the age test.
In 2021, eight key players missed the opportunity to be part of the team after failing MRI tests ahead of the U-17 Africa Nations Cup in Morocco.
In 2013, six players—a goalkeeper, three defenders, and two strikers—failed the age verification test conducted by Nigerian authorities ahead of the FIFA U17 Cup in the UAE.
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This measure was taken to prevent a recurrence of the embarrassment witnessed during the African Championship, where some players were sent home after an MRI scan revealed they were older than 17.
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