Nigeria Football Federation has stated Fifa is yet to complete the process of switching the international team allegiance of Leicester City's Ademola Lookman from England to Nigeria.
The Nigerian football body reacted to questions raised by fans after Lookman was not listed in the 28-man squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Leicester City star previously played for his country of birth, England at the U19, U20 and U21 levels, and he has now declared his intention to play for his parent country, Nigeria at the senior international level.
The switch of allegiance is in progress with Fifa and the 24-year-old was initially listed for the continental tournament that will start in Cameroon on January 6.
“The Nigeria Football Federation has stated categorically that Ademola Lookman of Leicester City FC of England has not yet been cleared by World Football body, Fifa to represent Nigeria at International level. The process for his switch is ongoing,” read a statement from NFF.
“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 Cameroon 2021.
“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.”
Lookman is currently on a season-long loan from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and he has scored five goals in total for Leicester City across all competitions this season.
On Tuesday, he came off the bench to score the match-winning goal that helped Brendan Rodgers’ side beat Liverpool 1-0 in a Premier League fixture.
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