Nigeria’s much-anticipated pre-AFCON friendly against Egypt has been pushed back by two days following a new FIFA regulation on player release dates.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed the adjustment in a statement issued on Monday by its Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire. The encounter, earlier slated for December 14 in Cairo, was rescheduled after FIFA ruled that clubs are permitted to hold on to their players until December 15.
“Officials confirmed that the match will now hold at Cairo Stadium, 8 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Nigeria time), as a practice encounter. The change means both teams can make more than five substitutions during the warm-up fixture ahead of the AFCON in Morocco,” Olajire explained.
The Super Eagles will head into the tournament from Group C, where they will battle Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania. Nigeria opens its campaign on December 23 in Fez, before returning to the same venue to face Tunisia on December 27 and Uganda on December 30.
Egypt, seven-time continental champions, will prosecute their Group B matches in Agadir against South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe.
With both giants fine-tuning their squads under the updated FIFA rules, the December 16 showdown in Cairo is expected to offer an early glimpse of the firepower heading to Morocco for AFCON 2025.
