The Nigeria Football Federation have rubbished reports that Victor Moses would prefer playing for his adopted country England than playing for his country of birth, Nigeria, insisting that the Wigan FC star has been legally tied to Nigeria by FIFA.
“It is in his interest to play for Nigeria otherwise his international career is finished. Victor has been cleared by FIFA for a change of nationality from England to Nigeria and as such it is either he plays for Nigeria or forgets playing for any country.Perhaps his agent who is wishing he gets an England senior call up does not know the implication of turning his back on Nigeria after he had,on his own volition,agreed to the nationality switch. The truth is that Moses can only pursue international football wearing the colours of Nigeria and no other country'',reveals NFF head of legal unit,Barrister Okey Obi.
According to Obi, the nationality switch was prolonged because FIFA needed to get assurances and consent of the player involved and Victor Moses and Shola Ameobi had to sign an undertaking that tied them to Nigeria internationally adding that Victor can only back out now at the risk of his international career.
Victor Moses,20 has lived in England since the age of 11 and has been capped by his adopted country at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 levels before agreeing to play for his country of birth and FIFA approved the nationality switch last month to play for Nigeria.
Under FIFA rules, players who had represented one country at junior level can play for another at senior level if they meet the qualification stipulations which make Victor Moses eligible to play for Nigeria.
Moses recently failed to honour an invitation to play two international friendly matches against Botswana and Zambia
“It is in his interest to play for Nigeria otherwise his international career is finished. Victor has been cleared by FIFA for a change of nationality from England to Nigeria and as such it is either he plays for Nigeria or forgets playing for any country.Perhaps his agent who is wishing he gets an England senior call up does not know the implication of turning his back on Nigeria after he had,on his own volition,agreed to the nationality switch. The truth is that Moses can only pursue international football wearing the colours of Nigeria and no other country'',reveals NFF head of legal unit,Barrister Okey Obi.
According to Obi, the nationality switch was prolonged because FIFA needed to get assurances and consent of the player involved and Victor Moses and Shola Ameobi had to sign an undertaking that tied them to Nigeria internationally adding that Victor can only back out now at the risk of his international career.
Victor Moses,20 has lived in England since the age of 11 and has been capped by his adopted country at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 levels before agreeing to play for his country of birth and FIFA approved the nationality switch last month to play for Nigeria.
Under FIFA rules, players who had represented one country at junior level can play for another at senior level if they meet the qualification stipulations which make Victor Moses eligible to play for Nigeria.
Moses recently failed to honour an invitation to play two international friendly matches against Botswana and Zambia
No comments:
Post a Comment