Exclusive Foot Africa: Douglas Idahosa's shocking revelations after Nigeria U20 elimination

In an exclusive interview with “Foot Africa”, Nigeria's Douglas Idahosa, coach and owner of the BJ Football Club academy in Benin City, made shocking revelations following the elimination of the "Flying Eagles" from the U20 World Cup.

The system is corrupt. Many talented players can’t afford to bribe the coaches, as most of Nigeria’s best young footballers come from humble backgrounds.

Also read: CAN 2025: It's already a ticketing disaster

So many players. For example: Eugene Osaghae, Chinaka Emmanuel, Osazuwa Imafidon, and Purpose Ayemogie. He played at the HB Academy in Abuja but was not called up, just like many other talented players from different cities in Nigeria. Coaches no longer scout them; they simply wait for players to send them money to be included in the squad. Purpose Ayemogie is a striker who finished as the top scorer in Benin City during the Federation Cup. He was sent to train with the U20s in Katsina State, but since he didn't have money to bribe the coach, he never got his chance and was eventually dropped from the group.

As a reminder, Nigeria finished third in their group before being knocked out by Argentina with a 4-0 scoreline in the round of 16 at the U20 World Cup.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.