Augustine Eguavoen, technical director of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), clarified recent reports that the Super Hawks’ upcoming roster selection process in their match against Rwanda and Zimbabwe have been disrupted.
Head coach Eric Chelle recently narrowed his extensive interim team to the final roster of 23 players as preparations for these critical fixtures intensify.
Among the famous absentees of the team are experienced players, including Ahmed Musa, Frank Onyeka, Kelechi Iheanacho and Zaidu Sanusi, who have raised questions among fans and analysts.
Eguavoen stressed the importance of coach autonomy and noted that Eric Chelle was fully responsible for selecting players who would represent Nigeria in these important encounters.
“I want the Nigerians to be clear on this issue. As a technical director for many years, I have attended many FIFA workshops and fundamentally the head coach of the global senior national team is the ultimate authority for player choice,” he said. Eguavoen told SuperSport. He stressed that despite the welcome discussion and interaction, the final decision relied firmly on the coach.
“If he chooses a player or decides to omit one player, that’s his privilege. That’s the nature of their role, and that’s why the head coach can reduce his responsibilities at any time.” Eguavoen added.
The Super Hawks will start training camp for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers today on Sunday.
This game is particularly important because it marks the team’s pursuit of qualifications in the new cycle. The Super Hawks will face Rwanda next Friday at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, followed by Zimbabwe on Tuesday, March 25 in UYO’s Zimbabwe.
The results of these matches are crucial to Nigeria’s desire in the World Cup qualifiers, and fans eagerly await the performance of this new look.
