Nigeria U-23 team, Dream Team VI, will fly out of the country for the All Africa Games on Monday, officials have announced.
The team, who are drawn in Group B alongside Ghana and Senegal after Egypt pulled out, will be made up of players from domestic league after overseas clubs refused to release players for the competition to be staged in Congo Brazzaville.
Only skipper Azubuike Okechukwu and Umar Aminu, who are both based in Turkey, have confirmed their availability for the tournament, while the European clubs of Godwin Saviour and Shehu Abdullahi have turned down the request of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the players to be released.
Dream Team under the tutelage of coach Samson Siasia are expected to use this tournament to prepare for the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in Senegal in November, which will be the qualifying series for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Meanwhile, Samson Siasia has expressed his disappointment with the sudden withdrawal of Egypt from the football event of the All-Africa Games billed for next month.
The news was made known by the Confederation of African Football without stating reasons for their decision.
In accordance with Article 19 (B) of the regulations which states “If a team withdraws after having qualified for the Final Tournament, but before the actual start of the Final Tournament, the Organizing Committee may replace it by the last team it has eliminated, if the circumstances are favourable.