The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says it has “neither instructed a process nor has a process been concluded” to ban Victor Osimhen from the Super Eagles.
The federation issued the disclaimer in a statement on Wednesday.
NFF was reacting to reports on social media claiming that a disciplinary procedure had been initiated to sanction Osimhen over his recent outburst on social media.
On June 15, Osimhen took to his Instagram Live and blasted George Finidi, the recently departed Eagles’ head coach, over claims that the manager hinted that the Napoli striker feigned injury to skip recent national team games.
In the broadcast, Osimhen declared he had “lost the respect” he had for Finidi while raining harsh words on those who believed the claims credited to the manager.
Osimhen’s outburst created a social media frenzy and polarised opinions. Some Nigerians supported the striker’s action, while others called for his sanction.
NFF described reports of the player’s ban or potential punishment as “outright falsehood”.
The federation added that its “focus presently is to resolve all matters around the Super Eagles and be able to look ahead with confidence to the 2025 AFCON qualifiers and the remaining six matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification series”.
“The Nigeria Football Federation has described it as outright falsehood, reports in some online publications on Wednesday that the football-governing body has slammed a ban on Super Eagles’ forward Victor Osimhen from the team for his social media outburst a few days ago,” the statement reads.
“NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi expressed amazement at the reports, saying the Federation has neither instructed a process nor has a process been concluded to ban the player from the national team.”
