Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s Flying Eagles have withdrawn from the 2023 West Africa Football Union, WAFU Zone B U-20 Tournament slated to hold next month in Cote D’Ivoire.
The General-Secretary, Nigeria Football Federation, Sanusi Mohammed said fatigue was the reason for the withdrawal
“Yes, it’s true, Nigeria has withdrawn from U20 WAFU B. Sanusi told sports journalists in Lagos.
The Flying Eagles recently returned from their 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina where they were eliminated in the quarter-final by South Korea in a 1-0 defeat.
“The players just returned from the World Cup and went home to rest.
“We can’t recall them now to embark on another tournament that will not serve as qualifier for any competition. The players are human and need to rest.”
There were expectations that the Nigeria Football Federation could have overseen the composition of another team made up of U-20 players to head to Cote d’Ivorie as the country hopes to continue to build conveyor belts of aspiring talents.
Nigeria were paired in Group B of the tournament along with Togo and Benin Republic.
Meanwhile Group A is made up of hosts, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic
The WAFU U-20 men’s championship is slated for Cote d’Ivoire from July 7th-21st, 2023.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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