‘A lot of politics’ – Pinnick on persuading two England-born players to play for Super Eagles

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‘A lot of politics’ – Pinnick on persuading two England-born players to play for Super Eagles

Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has opened up on what transpired while he was persuading two England-based Nigerian players to switch allegiance to the Super Eagles.

Pinnick said that convincing players like Ademola Lookman and Alex Iwobi to play for the Super Eagles was a daunting task during his tenure as NFF boss.

According to him, a lot of politics was involved.

Recall that both Iwobi and Lookman previously represented England’s youth teams at different levels.

Iwobi made the switch to Nigeria in 2015, while Lookman followed in 2022.

“It is also true that I was instrumental to some of the players switching to Nigeria. Ademola Lookman for example, it was hell for us bringing him to Nigeria,” Pinnick told ThisDay.

“There was a lot of politics involved. A lot of intrigues and family dynamism. Same for Iwobi. But like I said earlier, football is a continuum.

“I will not say I brought them because today they are assets to the federation.“