The Cologne defender could’ve made his debut for Nigeria last year when he was invited for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone
Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has revealed that an administrative problem is why he hasn’t invited Kingsley Ehizibue back to the national team.
Ehizibue was born in German, but he’s also eligible to play for the Netherlands and Nigeria through his parents. The three-time African champions appeared to have won the battle for his services last year after he was invited for the AFCON qualifier against Sierra Leone in March.
However, the clash was postponed due to Covid-19, which halted all football activities for over three months. Although the Super Eagles have played five games following the lockdown, including the rescheduled Sierra Leone clash, Ehizibue was not called up for these games.
Rohr has now explained why Ehizibue hasn’t been invited again. The German tactician said the 23-year-old would have to drop his Dutch passport if he wants to represent Nigeria at the international level.
Kingsley has administrative problems, Kingsley was born in Germany, and then he was a refugee, and he had to go to the Netherlands, and he got a Dutch passport,” Rohr explained to Elegbete TV Sports.
“Now, if he takes another passport, for example, Nigerian passport, he must leave the Dutch passport. He cannot have double passports, this is the only problem.”
Rohr revealed that he held positive talks with Ehizibue and claimed the player is willing to represent the Super Eagles.
“I met him in Cologne, I saw him with his agent, and the boy wants to play with us, but if he’s playing with us with the Nigerian passport, he will lose the Schengen passport and he cannot because in his team he cannot play without the Schengen passport so this is only an administrative problem,” Rohr added.
