British Home Office denies Ogenyi Onazi work permit to enable him join Birmingham City

SUPER Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has been denied a work permit by the British Home Office making him ineligible to play for Birmingham City despite him having agreed terms with the Championship side.

Earlier this week, Onazi's Turkish club Trabzonspor reached a deal with Birmingham City to sell the player in a deal worth €4.5m. After reaching the deal, the Championship clubside agreed personal terms with the player and were only waiting for Home Office to issue him a work permit through the English FA.

However the Football Association turned down a first application for a work permit for Onazi last week. An appeal made by the club was rejected yesterday despite Onazi, 24, being a regular in the Nigeria national team.

Apparently, the player and his representatives are bitterly disappointed that the panel rejected an appeal. According to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, Onazi has been recalled by Trabzonspor to first-team training and is available for this weekend’s clash with Fenerbahce.

Onazi has played 38 times for the Super Eagles and helped the team win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and reach the last 16 of the World Cup in Brazil a year later. However Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the last two editions of the Nations Cup has affected his chances of securing a work permit to play in the English Championship.

Despite appearing in over 80% of the national team games, Onazi failed to earn a permit after the FA considered Nigeria's world ranking over the past two years. Nigeria was ranked 38th in August 2017 but finished 54th on aggregate over the last two years.