Super Eagles head coach Éric Chelle has taken a group of home-based players and support personnel to London for the Unity Cup, scheduled for May 26-30, but Nigeria has suffered a setback after Swedish side AIK declined to release striker Zadok Yohanna for the competition.
AIK stated that Yohanna, who is currently in rehabilitation, cannot be made available for both sporting and medical reasons. The same factors also kept him out of AIK’s most recent Allsvenskan away match against Västerås SK, a game that finished 1-1.
In a statement, AIK said it was “happy and proud” that Yohanna had been named for Nigeria’s national team for the Unity Cup. The club added that the choice not to allow the forward to travel to London was driven partly by his rehabilitation status, while also citing “sporting reasons,” describing him as a key player for AIK Football Club.
With Yohanna unavailable for the trip, he would have missed AIK’s Allsvenskan fixture against IK Sirius on May 30. AIK indicated it was not prepared to risk his absence from that match for the sake of the international tournament.
Even with the striker sidelined from the national-team trip, Chelle’s delegation still left Africa’s capital for London from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. The group includes seven players based in Nigeria, and it is expected to be strengthened in London by an additional 20 professionals plying their trade abroad.
Nigeria will open their Unity Cup campaign in the semi-finals against Zimbabwe’s Warriors at The Valley, the home venue of Sky Bet Championship side Charlton Athletic, on Tuesday. The other semi-final pairs India and Jamaica.
AIK closed by leaving the door open for Yohanna’s future involvement with Nigeria, saying it “look[s] forward to seeing Zadok represent the Nigerian national team in the future.”
