Udeze Lifts Lid On Why Babayaro, Aiyegbeni, Agali Were Thrown Out Of 2004 AFCON

Former Super Eagles defender Ifeanyi Udeze has revealed the reason the trio of Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Victor Agali and Celestine Babayaro were kicked out of the national team at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.

Agali, Babayaro and Aiyegbeni were then accused of carrying women after Nigeria lost 1-0 to Morocco in their opening game.

The trio were then axed from the squad with Nigeria’s second group game against South Africa just a few days ahead.

However, during his programme on Brila FM titled “Ifeanyi Udeze’s Diary”, the former left-back, who was a member of the Eagles 2004 AFCON squad, debunked claims that Agali, Babayaro and Aiyegbeni were caught with women.

“The rules they broke was that from 9:30pm to 10pm players must be in their rooms,” Udeze said.

“But past 11pm they were still down in the bar but they were not with ladies. I didn’t see them with ladies and nobody told me they were caught with ladies.”

The 2002 FIFA World Cup star added: “Truth is if you are in a bar and someone else is also in the bar drinking on his or her own, does it mean we are together?” he asked.

The Eagles went on to beat Mali 2-1 to take home the bronze in the third-place match.