By Felicia Udeji
Former Super Eagles coach Finidi George has responded to Victor Osimhen’s viral video on social media where he denied accusations of faking an injury to avoid participation in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Osimhen had taken to Instagram Live on Saturday to clarify that claims about him staging an injury to skip national team duties were false.
In the video, Osimhen addressed some rumours linked to Finidi George claiming that the former Enyimba gaffer said that he won’t beg him [Osimhen] to play for the Super Eagles.
Osimhen lashed out at coach Finidi George, stating that he has lost respect for him.
Reacting to the controversy, Nigeria Sports Journalist Udoh Collin sought clarification from both NFF and Coach Finidi.
Udoh reached out to senior NFF officials, who confirmed that Finidi never accused Osimhen of feigning an injury.
Udoh also revealed that he reached out to Finidi who refuted ever making such statement and expected Osimhen to have handled the situation differently.
Udoh said on Instagram, “So I called a couple of people who were at that meeting between Finidi, the NFF, and the minister to find out if what is alleged to have been said was actually said, and so these people are usually very, very senior and reliable people and I was told categorically that Finidi did not say the things he’s alleged to have said.