Nigeria have been forced to make four late changes to their final Africa Cup of Nations squad with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen and Watford winger Emmanuel Dennis missing it. Defender Shehu Abdullahi and Leon Balogun are the other two players who will sit out the biennial African football showpiece being hosted by Cameroon and which runs from January 9 to February 6.
Osimhen has been ruled out after he contracted Coronavirus and has yet to fully recover from facial fractures that required surgery, while Watford will not release Dennis after they received his invitation for the tournament too late.
Osimhen and Dennis have been replaced by Henry Onyekuru of Olympiakos and Slavia Prague’s Peter Olayinka respectively.
Venezia’s Tyrone Ebuehi and Oluwasemilogo Ajayi — who plays for second tier English side West Brom — come in for Abdullahi and Balogun.
More Covid-19 cases hit Africa Cup of Nations teams
Four Cameroon players have tested positive for Covid-19, with the Africa Cup of Nations hosts set to kick off the tournament against Burkina Faso in just over a week’s time, the country’s football federation said.  
Other teams preparing for the finals, which start on January 9, also reported positive cases, with seven more in the Cape Verde Island squad and one for Morocco. This adds to positive infections reported on Thursday by Algeria and the Ivory Coast, who have also been hard hit by a possible drug suspension for their first choice goalkeeper.
Sylvain Gbohouo, who plays in Ethiopia at Wolkite City, has been provisionally suspended by FIFA after testing positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication that the World Anti-Doping Agency categorises as a stimulant. The announcement was made by the Ethiopian Football Federation but not confirmed by the Ivorians.
Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Eric Maxim Choupo Moting has been injured in training and is waiting to see if he can play. The Bayern Munich player, expected to lead the attack for the hosts, suffered “a severe pain in his right knee” and underwent a scan, according to the Cameroon football federation. It is awaiting the results, fearful that the 32-year-old striker might miss out.
Cameroon also said leading defender Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui, midfielder Pierre Kunde Malong, winger Christian Bassogog and back-up goalkeeper Jean Efala had all tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Cape Verde, who have been preparing for the Cup of Nations at home, had already called off a friendly match against Morocco before reporting new cases in their camp.