Onazi’s Birmingham Move Suffers Set Back Due To Super Eagles' FIFA Ranking

Super Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi was on the verge of joining English side Birmingham City but the poor ranking of the Super Eagles in the last two years scuttled the move.

“Redknapp first wanted to sign me when he was in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, but for some reasons he couldn’t. He has called me to say he wants big, experienced players to help his team gain promotion back to the Premier League. For me, this is an opportunity for me to get into the system. I believe that within a year, we will be playing in the Premier League,” the defensive midfielder had said about his touted move from the modest Turkish league where he plays for Trabzonspor to the championship side.

But the move was not be, despite the 24-year-old playing over 80 percent of the national team games as he failed to earn a permit because of Nigeria’s world rankings in the past two years.

The same fate befell Kayode Olanrewaju, who signed a four-year contract with Manchester City. His season long loan to FC Girona in Spain was also due to work permits hurdles.

The Super Eagles is currently ranked 38th in the World . The average ranking of the team in the last two years is around 54th.

This unimpressive ranking was the result of the national team’s inability to qualify for the 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Until 2015, to be eligible to play in UK, footballers only needed to have played in at least 75% of their country’s senior international matches over the previous two years.

But the bar has been raised. It has included a national team’s FIFA ranking in the last two years.

Below is the requirement:

Official FIFA Ranking Required % of international matches in past 2 yrs
FIFA 1-10 30% and above
FIFA 11-20 45% and above
FIFA 21-30 60% and above
FIFA 31-50 75% and above