Very few Nigerian players in action as European top leagues are forced to suspend season because of coronavirus

A slew of Nigerian players were not in action over the weekend due to the lockdown caused by coronavirus.

Very few Nigerian players were in action over the weekend as the European top leagues have been forced to suspend the season due to fear of the spread of the coronavirus.

Europe's top five leagues, Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have since suspended their respective seasons as mass gatherings have been banned by the various governments.

Due to this development, Nigerian players who are based in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France were not in action for their respective club sides this weekend.

In the Premier League, England based players Kelechi Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi and Odion Ighalo remained at home with the season suspended until April.

Alex Iwobi is one of the players who had to self-isolate after close contacts tested positive for coronavirus (James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)

Iheanacho, Ndidi and Iwobi already had a scare with the coronavirus as they were asked to self-isolate after teammates tested positive for the virus.

The likes of Leon Balogun and Semi Ajayi who play in the English second division were also not in action.

In Spain, the likes of Samuel Chukwueze, Kenneth Omeruo, Chidozie Awaziem and Azeez Ramon were all at home as most cities in the country are in lockdown following the outbreak of the virus.

Kennneth Omeruo is one of the affected players in Spain (Instagram/Kenneth Omeruo)

Leganess teammates Omeruo and Awaziem are seen in a video shared on Instagram playing head tennis together at home.

It was the same for Italy-based players like Ola Aina, Victor Moses, William Troost-Ekong who remained at home with the whole country on shutdown.

Victor Moses was also not in action as the Serie A has been suspended (Instagram/Inter)

Italy remains the most-affected country in Europe and the Simy Nwankwo who plays in the Serie B was also affected.

Germany has since suspended all mass gatherings including football games and this saw Jamilu Collins, Kingsley Ehizibue, Anthony Awoniyi and Anthony Ujah all out of action.

In France, Super Eagles stars Victor Osimhen, Samuel Kalu, Moses Simon and Josh Maja were also not in Ligue 1 action as they were forced to remain at home.

In action

It wasn’t all idleness around Europe as some other leagues were still in action.

After making a plea not to play for his club’s in their next game, ex-Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi was left on the bench as Trabzonspor were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Istanbul Basakshir in a top of the table clash.

There is more to life than football. I do not feel comfortable and don’t want to play football in this situation. Everyone should be home with their families and loved ones in this critical time. Season should be cancelled as the world is facing such turbulent times.

Mikel had stated on Instagram that he did not feel comfortable playing in the game but the Turkish Super League did not suspend the league and action continued.

His teammate and compatriot Anthony Nwakaeme was in action in the game and played for about 90 minutes before he was taken off.

For Basakshir, Dream Team captain Azubuike Okechukwu started from the bench before he was introduced in the 80th minute.

Also in Turkey, Henry Onyekuru played for 87 minutes before he was taken off as Galatasaray were held to a goalless draw at home by Besiktas.

Nigerian forward Olarenwaju Kayode played the whole 90 minutes as Gaziantep were beaten 1-0 away at Alanyaspor.

Super Eagles player Shehu Abdullahi was also in action but in the Turkish second division.

In Russia, Nigerian striker Sylvester Igboun came on from the bench for Dynamo Moscow who got a 3-2 away win at Akhmat Grozny in the Russian Premier League.

source https://www.pulse.ng/sports/football/very-few-nigerian-players-in-action-as-european-top-leagues-are-forced-to-suspend/jek1v4k