The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, has indicated that the Super Eagles’ qualifying for the Qatar World Cup is non-negotiable.
The NFF President, who commended the Teranga Lions of Senegal on their Afcon 2021 success, declared that he is doing all he can to ensure that the Super Eagles beat Ghana to qualify for the World Cup.
Amaju Pinnick disclosed this on his official Twitter page after speaking with former Watford star Ighalo Odion.
Pinnick said he spoke with Ighalo, who assured him that playing for the Super Eagles will always take precedence, and that he is keen to assist Nigeria qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar this year.
Amaju Pinnick wrote on his twitter page;
Good day Nigeria.
First off, I would like to thank our magnificent group of players, technical team and backroom staff for their stellar work at the just concluded 33rd AFCON. We played that competition to win it, but sometimes, you also need a bit of luck. After three wins playing good football as well, we were unlucky in our Round of 16 match. Nevertheless, it was a brilliant showing by oour team & showed the level of work the coaching crew put in. That has also been recognized by the latest @FIFAcom rankings placing Nigeria as the 3rd best on the continent. Congratulations to the Teranga Lions of Senegal as well. We will see you at the finals of the next Nations Cup.
Next. I would like to stress that qualifying for the Qatar World Cup is non-negotiable and we are doing everything possible to ensure this happens. I just met with @ighalojude, the highest goalscorer at the 2019 edition of the AFCON, now playing and still scoring goals for Saudi Arabia’s biggest football club. Odion has assured that playing for his country will always come first and he is ready to ensure that we do play at this year’s @FIFAWorldCup in Qatar.
In that vein, I’m also glad to announce that the work we’ve put in has ensured that on-loan Leicester City winger, Ademola Lookman’s application to change his nationality and represent Nigeria has been approved by @FIFAcom . Lookman was part of England’s title win at the 2017 U-20 World Cup & brings a winning mentality to our team. I can’t wait to see him make our Super Eagles that more formidable. We will be leading a delegation to the United Kingdom soon.