World football's governing body Fifa has said that it has not received an application for a change in the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder's nationality status.
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi had reiterated his desire to have him in the Super Eagles side for their upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
But the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) spokesman, Ademola Olajire, has admitted that there is a little delay in their nationality switch application.
"We are still working on our documents concerning Sidney Sam," Olajire told this blog.
"The coach [Stephen Keshi] spoke to us about it this week and we gave him the latest update on the player.
"This thing takes a while, we've done it before [with Shola Ameobi and Victor Moses] and we need to have all the required documents before submitting them at Fifa.
"We all saw what Victor Moses brought to the team in South Africa after switching from England to Nigeria, so the coach is hopeful on Sam too.
"In the next couple of weeks, the essential documents on Sam will be with Fifa for processing."
Sam, 24, who plays for Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, was born to a German mother but his father comes from Lagos.
He has not played for Germany at full international level, so is eligible to play for Nigeria - but he will have to wait for world governing body to approve his nationality switch.
"There were intense discussions and I am keen to play for Nigeria," says Sam.
"The country has a great football tradition, the team is full of good players."
Stephen Keshi, who led the Super Eagles to their first Africa Cup of Nations crown since 1994 last month, is a great admirer of the player.
"When you watch him play and see what he has to offer then you will understand why we want him to play for Nigeria." he said.
It's taking a whole 12 months to prepare what ever documents needed for the application. What if Germany caps him while we are busy dragging .
ReplyDelete