NFF Mandates Pre-Camping MRI Scans For Golden Eaglets

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has mandated that all the players invited to the under-17 national team camp (Golden Eaglets) must undergo pre-camping MRI scans.

Recall that the newly appointed head coach of the Golden Eaglets, Manu Garba, invited over 51 players to camp ahead of their WAFU Zone B title defence in Ghana from May 15 to 29, 2024.

The players are currently training at the FIFA Goal Project pitch at Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, where they are expected to be trimmed down before the WAFU tournament.

To avoid a situation where players will be dropped for failing MRI test when the tournament officially kicks off, the Golden Eaglets are expected to be cleared during the ongoing camp, according to the team’s media officer, Francis Achi.

“NFF is very serious about selecting players within the age bracket, not only to ensure that many of the selected players come true to ranks but also to avoid previous situations whereby teams got severely depleted after players who had passed the screening exercise were dropped after failing the MRI test,” Achi told the Punch.

“To this end, every player scouted is mandated to have an MRI scan at designated hospitals approved by the NFF. After that has been done and the player has passed Grades 1–4, he can be allowed to join up with the rest of the team. Even NFF is not accepting Grade 5 because the player will exceed the required age before the FIFA U17 World Cup.”

Note that over the years, Nigeria’s image in the underage tournaments has been stained due to Golden Eaglets players failing MRI tests.

Recall that eight key Nigerian players failed an MRI test in 2021 ahead of the Under-17 Africa Nations Cup in Morocco. A similar scandal happened in 2013 when Golden Eaglets lost six key players due to a failed MRI test ahead of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

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