The coach of Nigeria's U-17 team, Manu Garba, has said that many players did not pass the Magnetic Resonance Imaging test during the team's training camp.
As the 2024 WAFU B U-17 tournament in Ghana approaches, there are reports that Garba is having difficulties in selecting his team.
Soccernet has reported that the initial list of 51 invited players was significantly reduced due to failures in the MRI tests.
Garba, in an interview with theNFF.com, asked Nigerians to disregard reports of widespread failures in the MRI tests within his team.
Rather, he expressed confidence that his coaching staff would put together a strong team capable of qualifying for next year's Africa U17 Cup of Nations during the tournament in Ghana.
He mentioned, "Let me clarify the situation. The genuine U17 players, according to their official documents provided to the NFF and the MRI tests conducted by the football body, are still in the camp preparing for the WAFU B U17 tournament.
"When the camp opened last month, the honest football academies had to withdraw their players after the MRI tests they conducted showed that their players were in Grade 5. These players had to leave the camp immediately.
"Those who were not honest and thought they could find a way through one way or the other have been exposed after the NFF conducted its own MRI a few days ago and found the results earlier presented by their players before entering the camp did not match the NFF's requirements.
The NFF requires players to have results between Grades 1–4.
According to Garba, some players in Grade 5 have been instructed to depart from the camp.
Garba denied any suggestion that his camp was in disarray due to the MRI test results.
"The good news is that most of the players recorded good grades in their MRI results done at the NFF-approved medical centre, and the team is looking forward to a favourable outing at the WAFU B U17 tournament in Accra, Ghana.
The medical team of the Confederation of African Football will be carrying out another MRI test before the start of the tournament.
The reigning champions, who have won the WAFU B U17 Championship five times, will begin their title defense against Burkina Faso on May 16.
The team has played nine friendly games so far, winning six, drawing two, and suffering one defeat.
