15 of Nigeria’s 40 best players have failed the mandatory MRI age test just two weeks to the big kick-off of the U17 AFCON zonal qualifiers in Niger Republic.
It has been gathered that the players affected include four of the team’s star strikers as well as a highly-rated central defender from Plateau State.
The players have since been sent packing from the team’s training camp in Abuja.
Another set of 15 players are now to undergo the MRI scan to replace those who failed.
Last year, as many as 23 players failed the age test so much so that the five-time world champions failed to qualify for the U17 AFCON in Rwanda.
Coach Manu Garba’s team are to begin their qualifying campaign on September 3 against Burkina Faso.
They are drawn in Group B along with Cote d’Ivoire and Benin Republic with only the overall winners of the seven-team qualifying competition advancing to the tournament proper in Tanzania next year.
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