Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has voiced strong displeasure of the current Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, for the omission of outfield players from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) in the provisional squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The Confederation of African Football unveiled Peseiro’s 41-man provisional squad on Wednesday, revealing a stark absence of outfield players from the NPFL, with only three goalkeepers making the cut.
Peseiro named struggling stars Emmanuel Dennis, Kelechi Nwakali, Oluwafisayo Dele-Bashiru and Torunarigha Jordan in the squad.
Expressing his disappointment, Oliseh condemned the decision to overlook local league talents, labeling it as an aberration that could potentially undermine the morale of players in the domestic league.
Oliseh went further, suggesting that the exclusion of NPFL players may be driven by business motives, insinuating that the local talents are being sacrificed for commercial interests.
“If we had superstars like in the 90’s and early 2000’s playing at D very top world clubsides,champions league etc one could understand d absence of homebased in a 40 man call-up. Haba, dem just want kill everything wey be homebased in favour of football business! Time we act.
“Haba,when we dey play 1-1 draws versus lowly Lesotho and Rwanda in important world cup qualifiers, what right do we have to refuse opportunities to homebased. Or are they no longer Nigerians?, ” Oliseh posted on his X account.
Oliseh had a brief spell as Super Eagles Head Coach in 2015, but left the role acrimoniously following irreconcilable differences with the then Amaju Pinnick led Nigeria Football Federation board.
