The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has explained the withdrawal of seven players from the Super Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s international friendly against Russia.
In a statement issued by its Media Department, the NFF attributed the withdrawals to injuries, club restrictions and a documentation issue.
Super Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi and Basel defender Victory Akpe were ruled out through injury.
Ndidi picked up a minor knock during Nigeria’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Guinea-Bissau last week, while Akpe was also prevented from travelling to Russia after sustaining an injury.
“Switzerland-based defender Victory Akpe has been stopped from flying to Russia by injury,” the NFF said.
Three other players were withdrawn after their clubs declined to release them for the friendly.
“Midfielder Raphael Onyedika was stopped from travelling to Russia by his German club, Eintracht Frankfurt. Defender Bright Osayi-Samuel and UAE-based midfielder Ridwan Abdulrasaq Popoola were stopped by their clubs,” the federation said.
Forward Moses Usor was also unavailable for the match despite scoring on his Super Eagles debut in the 2-1 victory over Madagascar in Uyo on September 25.
Usor was not included in the original travelling squad, but head coach Éric Chelle later requested his release. However, Austrian club LASK instructed him not to travel to Russia.
Suleiman Mubarak, a forward invited from Czech side Slavia Prague and in contention to make his Super Eagles debut, was also unable to join the squad.
“Suleiman Mubarak, invited from Slavia Prague in Czechia, could not travel to Russia because his residence permit has not been secured,” the NFF said.
The withdrawals have left Chelle with a reduced squad as Nigeria seek to recover from their 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in their most recent AFCON qualifier.
Eighteen players took part in Sunday’s training session, while Ibrahim Ajasa of Russian club FC Rostov later joined the team as a late invitee, taking the number of players in camp to 19.
The Super Eagles held their final training session at 7.30pm local time on Monday at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium ahead of the encounter.
Russia head into the match in strong form after recording a 2-0 win over Iran before thrashing Namibia 6-0 in Yekaterinburg on Saturday.
Nigeria will be seeking a better result than their previous meeting with Russia, which ended in a 1-1 draw in Moscow in June 2025.
Russia took the lead through a Semi Ajayi own goal before Tolu Arokodare equalised for the Super Eagles.
