International Football
Potential Super Eagle, Tammy Abraham Next to Nest
By KUNLE SOLAJA.
More results are flowing in the current NFF president’s initiative to get more Nigerian players in the Diaspora into the national football team as another player; Tammy Abraham is set to switch allegiance from England to Nigeria.
Amaju Pinnick, the NFF chief has brought in players like Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina among others into the Super Eagles’ fold. Multiple sources including the NFF official blog and that of UK domiciled Daily Mail have informed Sports Village Square on the success made so far in getting on-loan Chelsea starlet, Tammy Abraham to switch nationality despite winning nine Under 21 caps for England.
The Chelsea striker has scored three goals in nine Under 21 games for England.
The player who will clock 20 in 11 days time has played nine matches for England’s youth team and scored three goals.
According to London Daily Mail, Pinnick who is a friend of the striker’s father has claimed that Abraham could play at next year’s World Cup, should the Super Eagles qualify for Russia 2018.
The Super Eagles are currently well on course for the World Cup as they are three points clear of the sole Group B rivals, Zambia, and also have a superior goal difference with two rounds of matches to play. Nigeria can confirm qualification with a game to spare by beating Zambia in Uyo next month.
Abraham who was born in London remains eligible to play for Nigeria owing to his father’s nationality and having not yet won a first team cap for England.
UK Daily Mail quoted Pinnick as saying: ‘I had a very honest and productive discussion with Tammy and his father last week. ‘It’s been a long process but I can tell you authoritatively that he has agreed to play for Nigeria and not England. He and his parents have started the necessary documents to effect the switch.
The NFF Chief, Amaju Pinnick is a friend of Tommy Abraham’s father
“Clearly he understands he stands a better chance playing for the Super Eagles. With his talent he has the ability to fight for a place in the Nigeria squad, by God’s grace we make it to Russia, and then he would contest for a chance to represent his fatherland.”
The NFF website also confirms this, stating further that the meeting Pinnick had with the Tammy and his family was also attended by the player’s agent, Neil Fewills.
“Tammy is like a son to me, because his father was my childhood friend. I believe he is a good prospect for the Super Eagles and the effort is well worth it’, thenff.com quoted Pinnick as saying.
The NFF further reports that Tammy was born on October 2, 1997 and is 1.90m tall. He is “said to have immense respect for fellow Chelsea FC man Victor Moses, who also played for England at junior level before committing his senior international career to Nigeria”.
Another source at the said meeting confirmed to thenff.com that Moses actually called in during the meeting to lend a voice to the call for Tammy to opt to fly with the Eagles rather than hunt with the Lions.
Moses himself has proved a worthwhile ‘catch’ for Nigeria, emerging the Super Eagles’ most valuable player in his first tournament – the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations that Nigeria won in South Africa – and playing at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil where the Eagles made the Round of 16.
He has also been an impact player for the Eagles in the ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying race, scoring two in the 3-1 triumph over Algeria in Uyo last year and emerging Man-Of-The-Match in both encounters against African champions Cameroon earlier this month. The four points from those two games have taken the Super Eagles within a kissing distance of Russia 2018.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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