Odion Ighalo, Super Eagles striker, says he left Al-Shabab FC because of the “bad blood” created by the club’s refusal to release him for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The 32-year-old revisited the issue during a chat with ESPN on Thursday.
Ighalo was included in the Super Eagles 28-man squad for the tournament in Cameroon but was not granted leave by the Saudi Arabian club.
He said Al Shabab refused to issue an exit visa for him to leave Saudi Arabia which forced him to remain in the country.
The 2019 AFCON top scorer added that the club’s approach ultimately prompted him to join Al Hilal, their league rivals, on a one-and-a-half-year contract.
“I was not happy with them and we decided to part ways because the Nations Cup that I didn’t go to caused a lot of bad blood,” Ighalo said.
“Four hours until my flight [to Cameroon], they had not sent me the exit visa. I called the team manager, and he told me they did not get an invitation. But I had a copy of the invitation that was sent because they copied me in the email.
“We had all this back and forth going on, I changed the ticket to the next day, and then the third day, and they still did not send me the visa. At that point, I knew they did not want me to go.
“My anger was that they should have told me straight up, not smiling in my face one day and then acting a different way. That is why I decided to leave.”
The experienced striker is expected to be named in the Super Eagles squad that will face Ghana for the World Cup qualification playoff billed for March 24 and 27.
