Pinnick Blames Rohr For Watford’s Refusal To Release Dennis For AFCON

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has claimed that former coach of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, is responsible for the absence of Emmanuel Dennis at the forthcoming AFCON.

Emmanuel Dennis was among the initial 28 players invited to represent the country in Cameroun. While responding to the invitation, Dennis in a tweet revealed his excitement. However, the Watford player was unable to make it to camp after Watford failed to release him for the continental showpiece, generating a  lot of reports about what might have transpired behind closed doors.

To clear the air, Pinnick explained the reason why Dennis could not join the rest of the team. Pinnick laid the blame for Dennis’s absence on the decision made by the former coach of the team.

In an interview with Arise News, Pinnick said”: “There are statutory provisions regarding inviting players and we were given a deadline for the first list”. He stated further that the problem began when Rohr submitted his first list on the 15th of December, 2021.

Pinnick also commented on Watford’s role in the fiasco and lack of respect for AFCON from other European clubs. In his words: “If you do not respect Africa, we will make sure Africa players do not come to your club”.

The president also highlighted how they were able to convince Tyronne Ebuehi to join the team since he was not part of the initial players invited for the tournament.

“We noticed we had some lapses in the defense and we had to draft some more players in the department”, he said.

Emmanuel Dennis has been in great form for Watford this season and a lot of Super Eagles fans were of high hope that he would perform greatly at AFCON. He was replaced by Slavia Prague player, Peter Olayinka.

Source

Pulse NG