Super Eagles Star Left Out of Premier League Team to Europa League Due to UEFA’s New Rules
- Ola Aina will miss Nottingham Forest’s UEFA Europa League campaign due to a hamstring injury sustained during a World Cup qualifier with Nigeria
- The defender was injured in Nigeria's 1-1 draw against South Africa as he was forced out after suffering a hamstring injury
- He underwent surgery and is expected to be sidelined until December, prompting Forest to remove him from their Europa League squad due to new rules
Nigerian international Ola Aina will not be part of the Nottingham Forest squad for the UEFA Europa League due to the injury he suffered recently.
The Super Eagles defender suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty with Nigeria at the World Cup qualifiers.
Aina was forced off and was substituted in their 1-1 draw with South Africa at the Toyota Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, per BBC.
Source: Getty Images
As a result, the 28-year-old underwent surgery and will be out of action until December.
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Although he was initially named in Forest's squad for the European competition, the club was forced to remove his name due to the adjustment in UEFA regulations.
It was gathered that the UEFA Executive Committee has reviewed its squad regulations for all European club competitions.
This includes the UEFA Conference League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Champions League. The new change says via the official website:
"The reasoning for the adaptation is to ensure that squad lists are not unfairly reduced and players are safeguarded from additional workload pressure."
According to the rules, clubs are mandated to replace a player who has suffered a "long-term injury or illness" which lasted for a minimum of 60 days.
If the original player recovers before the 60 days, he remains ineligible for the competition.
Aina's absence blow to Forest
Aina's absence will be a huge blow to the new head coach, Ange Postecoglou, who arrived at the club this summer after he was sacked at Tottenham.
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Having established himself under head Nuno Espirito Santo, Ola Aina featured in all but three Premier League matches for Nottingham Forest last season.
Forest made efforts to sign new defenders during the summer transfer window, with Nicolo Savona from Juventus and Oleksandr Zinchenko joining on loan from Arsenal.
Although they also completed the deal to sign Batafogo left-back Cuiabano, the star was sent back to the Brazilian club on loan.
Source: Getty Images
Losing Aina to injury is a huge blow to Postecoglou, who will also miss the services of Zinchenko during his first game in charge, as they face his parent club in the capital.
Onyedika ruled out for six weeks
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying campaign has been dealt another major setback after Raphael Onyedika picked up a serious injury for Club Brugge. This comes after Ola Aina was ruled out for three months.
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The 24-year-old midfielder is now set to miss the crucial October qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin, leaving the Super Eagles’ midfield thin at a time when they cannot afford to drop points.
Source: Legit.ng
