The Pressure to Axe Leon Balogun from the National Team

 

There's a rumour going round football circle that some top officials are pressuring Gernot Rohr to drop Leon Balogun from the Super Eagles squad after his recent disclosure on the social media  that the Super Eagles are owed a backlog of bonuses.

Balogun recently went public that the Super Eagles are owed bonuses for several matches despite promises by officials these monies will be paid to the players.

Observers then predicted this will land the central defender in hot water with the authorities, just as did Desire Oparanozie, who was used as a scapegoat for demanding for the Super Falcons bonuses at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

Oparanozie was stripped of the Super Falcons captaincy and was dropped from the national team for two years before she was recalled after she formally apologised for her actions.

However, Rohr has stuck to his guns he will not leave out Rangers ace Balogun for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Liberia and Cape Verde.

This may be one of the reasons why the long-awaited squad for the World Cup qualifiers has yet to be announced.

But the main cause of delay of the squad announcement was the need to adjust the selection following the decision of Premier League clubs not to release their players for the World Cup qualifier in Cape Verde, which is a red-listed country in the UK Coronavirus protocol.