NFF President Amaju Pinick has stated that the football federation is doing everything possible to avoid the mistake they made with Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham as they try to lure more players of Nigerian descent into the Super Eagles.
The former Delta State FA chief made a bold statement in 2017 that the Chelsea player would choose Nigeria due to his close ties with his father.
However, just hours after Pinnick’s announcement, Abraham himself put out a statement saying he will consider a future with England instead.
In an interview on Thursday, the NFF President speaks highly of Ovie Ejaria but revealed that the federation is trying to do the right things and not make a repeat of the Tammy Abraham mistake.
“Remember when I made public of Tammy’s allegiance and the player through his agent had other plans? We don’t want a repeat of that with Ovie and others.
“I spoke with Tammy’s dad, we are close friends till tomorrow – we grew up in the same neighborhood, although he is some 3 or 4 years older than me,” He said.
Ejaria had trained with the Nigerian U-17 team in 2013 before he accepted a call up to the England U-20 team in 2016 and made his debut on October 7, in a 3–1 win against Germany.
There has been a battle for the ownership of the player between England and Nigeria, but Pinnick is confident Ejaria will play for Nigeria but no official announcement on the player’s International future.
