Govt officials, agents, academy owners hijack U-20 screening

The current Flying Eagles screening process, which is intended to choose players for the 2024 WAFU B U20 Championship in Togo in October and November, has been taken over by football agents, government officials, and owners of football academies.

Some of the participants going through the selection process at the FIFA Goal Project in Abuja claim that the infiltrators have taken entire control of the exercise, leaving the technical crew led by Aliyu Zubairu perplexed. These players spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of being victimised.

"Top government officials with lettesr or football academy owners and agents, all vying for positions on the team, send some players here. The officials from the government sent some of the ones who were dropped back to the coach because they insisted on picking them. One of the athletes remarked, "The sheer quantity of agents here is a sign of things to come.

He continued, "It is said that the coach is bewildered and under a great deal of pressure about who to choose, given the applicants who are government officials, agents, academy owners, and so forth.

When their camp opened last Thursday, another player bemoaned its appalling state.

"Before being moved to the regular camp site, where the feeding is very poor, we were kept in a space infested with mosquitoes and bed bugs," he claimed.

In a friendly game played at the FIFA Goal Project in Abuja on Wednesday, the Flying Eagles faced Water FC. They will now play the Malantaki team in preparation for the sub-regional competition in Togo, which will decide the zone's representative for the 2025 Africa U20 Cup of Nations, which will take place in South Africa from January 1–19.