Abba Bichi the son of Yusuf Bichi Magaji the Director-General of the Department of State Services ( DSS) in Nigeria could be sent home from the camp of the Nigeria U17 team in Brazil, Owngoalnigeria.com understands.
Bichi was a surprise inclusion in the final 21 man list of players for the tournament by coach Manu Garba with many suggesting that his father’s position in the Nigeria security system helped his cause.
Yet to play a game after the three group games of the tournament, the forward will be hoping to get some game time in the round of 16 when they take on the Netherlands tomorrow.
According to sources close to the team Bichi is under investigation for breaking a very strong camp rule which forbids players from having access to their mobile phones during the course of the tournament.
The move is meant to keep the players focus with coach Manu Garba strict on the rule which he believe played a role in the success of the previous U-17 team he has handled in the past.
” Leaving their phones with them can be very dangerous as they could be distracted. They are kids who are yet to master the act of making good use of their time by that I mean knowing when to sleep or otherwise. In the past we noticed most of them spending the night on social media and that means they hardly get enough sleep which affects their performance in the long run”, Manu told Owngoalnigeria.com after the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Tanzania.
That rule appears to have been broken by Bichi who has been very active on his instagram handle and on one particular occasion he even shared an article urging the coach to play him in their last group game against Australia.
” We are investigating the issue because he probably isn’t the one managing his instagram account, so we will hear from him first before any action will be taken against him. For now I can’t tell but he could be sent home or fined”, a team official told Owngoalnigeria.com.
