Leicester City’s squad could have been even further hit by Africa Cup of Nations absences had Fifa processed Ademola Lookman’s international switch in time. City have four players competing at the tournament – Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Daniel Amartey and Papy Mendy – which will “hurt a lot”, manager Brendan Rodgers has said.
In a statement Nigerian Football Federation said: “Ademola Lookman of Leicester City FC has not yet been cleared by world football body Fifa to represent Nigeria at international level. The process for his switch is ongoing. It is therefore incorrect for any medium to claim that interim head coach Austin Eguavoen is the one who axed the player from Nigeria’s final list of 28 for the Africa Cup of Nations. However, his name was included in the initial provisional list with the belief that the process would have been completed before the commencement of Afcon.”
Had it gone through, Lookman could have been playing alongside Ndidi and Iheanacho in their opening fixture against Egypt next Tuesday.
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