Pardew blocks Ameobi's Afcon quest
by Sammy Wejinya 24 December 2012, 17:54
The Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew has ruled out striker, Shola Ameobi from the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.
Pardew claims that the head coach of the Nigerian national team, Stephen Keshi knows the reasons he has asked the player to stay away from the competition.
Ameobi has been in impressive form for Newcastle this season and scored the winner as Newcastle beat Queens Parks Rangers 1-0 in the Barclays English Premier League at the weekend.
The forward was included in Nigeria’s provisional 32-man squad for the 2013 Afcon by Keshi on December 21.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has reacted to the development stating that Newcastle cannot hold on to the player if he is eventually listed in the final 23-man squad of Nigeria for the Nations Cup.
“Keshi never told us that Ameobi will not be available for the Cup of Nations when he was included in the 32-man provisional list. The Cup of Nations is a competition sanctioned by Fifa and I am sure Newcastle knows that. We will do all within our power to secure the release of all our players for the competition,” Olajire told supersport.com.
Ameobi, 31, has made just one appearance for Nigeria.
