By Obaloluwa Joshua, LAGOS
Augustine Eguavoen has denied allegation he influenced Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle on the selection of players for the team’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe, Prompt News reports.
Chelle rolled out his 23-man squad for the matchday five and six fixtures on Tuesday.
Eguavoen, who is the technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, managed the Super Eagles in interim capacity before Chelle’s appointment.
The former defender claimed Chelle picked his players without any external influence.
“I want Nigerians to get clarity on something, I’ve been technical director for a few years and I have attended FIFA workshops where I ask questions a lot and they made it clear to me that a senior national team coach anywhere in the world has a final say on who he wants on his list,” he said on SuperSport’s Monday Night Football.
“We can interact, we cannot interfere. If he says no, it’s no. That is why they can fire a senior national team coach at any time. So I will say Eric Chelle took his time to prepare this list and he has the final say.”
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