•Petitions FIFA for justice, as Matuidi apologises
Following the lethal tackle Frenchman, Blaise Matuidi, unleashed on him which forced him out of Les Bleus 2-0 defeat of Nigeria in one of the Round of 16 matches at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Super Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi, is set to miss the pre-season sessions with his club, Lazio.
Onazi down in pain after the tackle by Matuidi
The Serie A club has fixed the return date for the new season for Monday, July 7, but Onazi, now with clutches as a result of injuries suffered from the tackle, will be missing in action.
“It is unfortunate and sad that he (Onazi) will not be part of the pre-season sessions because of the injury he sustained in the match.
“He might need more time than expected to recover from the injury and join the club in earnest,” said a close aide of the player.
In another development, Onazi has called on Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to take another look at the tackle and do what is right.
He said: “I was shocked that despite the protestations of Argentine football legend, Diego Armando Maradona, that French midfielder, Matuidi, has not been sanctioned for the hard tackle on me that tore my left leg tendon, nothing has been done.”
According to him, what the world football ruling body has done is not to respect its own rules.
“The French side would announce to the world before a game that ‘we are very physical’, so that they can come and commit murder and get away with it, yet FIFA will fold its arms and do nothing.
“I’m totally in tune with Maradona, who believes that the tackle on me was worse than what Luis Suarez did to Italian Chellini.
“I beg that FIFA should go back and watch the tape of the game and apply necessary sanctions for the good of the game; otherwise it’s Nigeria today, it could be another big country tomorrow. Justice must be done,” he said.
Matuidi, on his own, has apologised even publicly for the challenge on Onazi.
“I didn’t go in to hurt him and I’m disappointed, as I’m not a bad player. I apologise. I went into their dressing room to apologise.”
Meanwhile, all Serie A clubs start pre-season plans from Monday, with Torino, the earliest to report back, and the rest of the League to follow shortly.
Onazi’s Lazio, along with Cagliari, Napoli, Parma, Empoli, Genoa and Sassuolo, are all calling players back on July 11, while Palermo will ask theirs to return a day later.
Inter started work from July 4 at Appiano Gentile, ahead of a training camp from July 9 to 20 in the small Trentino town of Pinzolo in the northern Alps and then the start of their United States tour on July 23.
From Wednesday, July 9, Chievo and Milan will be back at work, with the Rossoneri under new coach, Pippo Inzaghi. Rossoneri is also due to fly out to the U.S. for a tour from July 24.
Defending champions, Juventus, whose pre-season plans take out to Indonesia, Australia and Singapore, starts work on July 14, as does Atalanta.
Roma is back at Trigoria from July 15, before it heads for America from July 21. From August 9, it is due for a week in Austria.
Verona is due to start training from July 16, while the last team to confirm its place in Serie A for next season, Cesena, will begin preparations to beat the drop from July 19.
