Bribe, influence in players’ selection ‘killed’ cadet teams in 2019, says Lawal

Former Nigerian international, Oladimeji Lawal, has said that the National U-17, U-20, and U-23 teams could not excel in various competitions last year due to bad influence and compromise in team selection. He stated that the practice offering bribe to coaches to influence players’ selection had become the order of the day in Nigerian football.Lawal, who expressed worries over the future of cadet national teams in the country, said that during his playing days in the U-17 and U-20 squad, team selection was based on what a player could offer without the coach being influenced with money or external forces.The team manager of Shooting Stars FC of Ibadan cautioned that if measures were not put in place to curtail the dubious attitude of some Nigerians who specialises in manipulating players’ selection, Nigeria would continue to fumble at international cadet championships.Lawal added that it was a big shame that Nigeria that had dominated Africa and the world at the U-17 and U-20 levels with young players from the domestic scene could not qualify for the quarterfinal and semifinal of the World Cups held in 2019.He, however, called on the NFF to look inwards in revamping football at...
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