The three-time women’s African footballer of the year, Asisat Oshoala has been left out of the Super Falcons’ squad to face France in Le Mans on 6 April. A Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) official highlighted that her Chinese club Dalian Quanjian refused to release her on the grounds that she had once missed pre-season training after returning late from international duty. Oshoala was originally in the 23 women’s squad together with other five high profile internationals who have also been omitted. The NFF official also added that some players had passport and visa issues hence the omission. The former Arsenal and Liverpool striker refused to acknowledge any alleged acts of indiscipline and insisted that she is missing the friendly to sort out her work permit.

Asisat Oshoala helped Nigeria to their record eighth Women’s African Nations title in Cameroon 2016. The friendly is part of Nigeria’s preparations to ace the qualifiers for the 2018 African Women Cup of Nations to be held in Ghana this November. Their performance in the tournament will also determine if they will secure a spot at the 2019 Women’s FIFA World Cup in France. The Super Falcons have appeared in the world cup since 1991 but have failed to reach the last four on any occasion.