The Super Eagles take on Lesotho on Friday, and some players are at risk of getting suspended…
Super Eagles stars Ademola Lookman, Tolu Arokodare, Semi Ajayi, Alex Iwobi, Stanley Nwabali, Bruno Onyemaechi, Wilfred Ndidi, and Calvin Bassey will be suspended for one game if they get yellow carded in the game against Lesotho on Friday, Soccernet.ng reports.
According to FIFA rules, players who get yellow carded twice in the World Cup Qualifiers series will get an automatic one-game suspension for the next World Cup Qualifier game only.
This was what happened to South Africa’s Teboho Mokoena. He got booked twice, but coach Hugo Broos still played him in the next World Cup Qualifier game and that was what warranted FIFA’s hammer.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will be looking to avoid a similar occurrence, especially as they also made the same mistake in the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers series.
According to Fans Tribe HQ, as confirmed by Soccernet.ng, some players in the Super Eagles squad for the game against Lesotho on Friday have already been booked once in the series. So another booking would automatically make them ineligible for the Benin fixture.
When Were The Super Eagles Players Booked?
Semi Ajayi was the first Nigerian player to be carded in the series, as he got carded against Lesotho in the first game in November 2023. Then, Calvin Bassey got a yellow in the second game against Zimbabwe in November 2023.
Ademola Lookman and Bruno Onyemaechi were carded against South Africa last time out, while Stanley Nwabali got yellow carded against Rwanda in September.
Then, Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, and Tolu Arokodare all got booked against Rwanda in March this year.
If any of these players who gets carded against Lesotho, they won’t be eligible to play against Benin next week.