A proposed move to Serie A has stymied Ivory Coast’s hopes of handing defender Evan Ndicka a first cap on Saturday when they take on Zambia in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Ndicka, called up for the first time by the Ivorians for the Group H match in Ndola, will not be able to make his debut because his arrival in camp was delay by negotiations over a transfer to Italy
The 23-year-old defender’s arrival in Abidjan, where the rest of the Ivorian squad went into camp on Tuesday, was held up by negotiations over a move to AS Roma from Eintracht Frankfurt where he has spent the past five seasons.
He was given extra time by Ivory Coast coach Jean-Louis Gasset to settle his club affairs and, as a result, unable to make it to Abidjan in time to join the rest of the squad on the charter flight that the Ivorians took on Thursday for Ndola.
Ivorian football officials decide it would take him too long to get to Lusaka by alternate flights for Saturday’s match, so have let him skip the game instead.
The Paris-born central defender, whose mother is Ivorian but father from Cameroon, has pledged his international future to the Elephants. He played for France from under-16 up to under-21 level.
Ivory Coast will be hosting the next Nations Cup finals from January 13 to February 11 next year.
They are already qualified as hosts for the finals so in Group H only one other team will qualify. Zambia need only draw in Ndola on Saturday to add their name to the 24-team finals field, leaving Comoros Islands to join the already-eliminated Lesotho on the sidelines.