29th May, 2013
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has described the comments made by Bayer Leverkusen player, Sidney Sam that ‘he never wanted to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria’ as “disrespectful”
Only on Tuesday, Sam revealed that he never wanted to play for Nigeria, adding that his heart has always been with the German national team.
Sam has a Nigerian father and a German mother, making him eligible to switch nationality, which could have qualified him to play for Nigeria if he had wanted to play for the Super Eagles.
The 25- year old midfielder, who represented Germany at youth level was being courted by the NFF officials, who have already started the paperworks for his clearance, but Sam’s stance will now put a stop to all the processes involved.
“It’s disappointing and disrespectful,” NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire said. “If he’s not interested, he’s not interested and no-one is going to beg him to play for Nigeria.
“But to say he was never contacted is false and ridiculous. At the appropriate time we will give more details.”
Sam was last week called up for Germany’s friendly match against Ecuador and USA. He said of his call-up: “I never really thought about Nigeria and I do not know who invented that,” he told German sports agency SID.
“I always wanted to play for Germany and I know I was on the coach’s list. It is a pity, I was often injured but now I am here and want to prove my strengths.”