The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have revealed they have not considered what action, if any, to take against 31-year-old striker Peter Odemwingie for his recent outbursts on Twitter.
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The West Bromwich Albion frontman launched a scathing attack on Nigerian head coach Stephen Keshi, the NFF, as well as former Nigerian internationals, after his omission from the Super Eagles provisional 32-man AFCON squad.
Rumours circulated in Nigeria that Odemwingie could be hit with a life-time ban by the Nigerian FA for his social media indiscretions. These were, however, quickly played down by Chris Green, an executive committee member of the NFF:
"Why would we ban a player in the twilight of his career? Yes he has insulted virtually everyone - the federation, the national team head coach and even ex-internationals but we have no plans to ban or suspend just yet," he told SuperSport.
"Remember there is the Nations Cup and the World Cup to play for. Also, like the popular parlance says 'you don't throw away the baby with the bath water,' the federation will only look into the matter carefully before making any statement. Right now, the Nations Cup is uppermost in our agenda and we don't want any distraction.
"But I want to state it categorically that Nigeria is bigger than any player or anybody to hold to ransom. Osaze is not the only player dropped from the team. Obafemi Martins, Kalu Uche, Obinna Nsofor and other players were left out and they didn't say anything untoward but accepted it. He is supposed to be a role model.
"Imagine if this man is part of the team's camp he would have disrupted the peace there. Yet the same man wanted the captain's armband when there's already an existing captain and even a deputy."
Green goes on to remind Odemwingie of how important the Super Eagles have been in moulding his career:
"It was on the back of Nigeria that he rode to success and I will say it that he still needs Nigeria. But let's allow him the benefit to continue with his rant for now."
It seems unlikely that Odemwingie will get away 'scot-free' for his actions, and one wonders if Green is just using this 'shrug-it-off and 'play-it-down' tactic as a smokescreen to cool the air in the Nigerian camp leading up to the AFCON.
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