The Nigeria Football Federation employed its social media channels to dispel the rumours that Victor Boniface was invited to join the Super Eagles
According to reports, Nigerian forward Victor Boniface was called up by Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro for their two-legged 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Guinea-Bissau, but the player declined the invitation.
The Nigerian star was reportedly left off of the Super Eagles' final roster for their match against Guinea-Bissau during the interim, according to the country's football body.
The federation's football governing body has not yet revealed the reasons for Boniface's exclusion from the Portuguese manager's list. Still, according to the previous roster released for their doubleheader match against their West African neighbours, Boniface had a better record than some team members this year prior to the game.
The presumed African heavyweights could only manage a close one-leg win thanks to a penalty, despite the presence of the mentioned players.
Just this year, the Nigerian has six goals in all competitions for Union St. Gilloise, more than Ahmed Musa and Paul Onuachu, who has failed to score since moving from KRC Genk to Southampton in January.
However, the former Real Madrid forward, who now has 5 goals, is one goal behind Manchester United's Marcus Rashford in the UEFA Europa League scoring rankings.
Apart from that, his effort for his Belgian team earned him the title of Europa League player of the week.
However it is still unclear if the striker really declined the invitation for NFF to reimburse him since he had assumed that his invitation letter would include a return flight ticket.
Nonetheless, the Nigerian football governing body has been accused of doing certain unpleasant steps that are now having an impact on Nigeria's footballing system.
Now, if an in-form Boniface, who has scored 19 goals and handed out 8 assists so far this season, is unable to make the 62-year-old manager's final list ahead of some players with minimal effects in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifications, then the Federation must explain why Daniel Bameyi and Ahmed Musa of Yum Yum fc were chosen ahead of players like Chuba Akpom and Boniface.
