Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, says he left his former club Al-Shabab FC because the club refused to release him for the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Ighalo, 32, was listed in Super Eagles squad for the tournament, but was later substituted few days to the tournament that held in Cameroon.

Narrating how his former club refused to release him for the tournament, Ighalo expressed dissatisfaction, saying the club’s decision made him unhappy.

“Four hours until my flight [to Cameroon], they had not sent me the exit visa. I called the team manager, and he told me they did not get an invitation. But I had a copy of the invitation that was sent because they copied me in the email,” Ighalo told ESPN in an interview on Thursday.

“We had all this back and forth going on, I changed the ticket to the next day, and then the third day, and they still did not send me the visa. At that point, I knew they did not want me to go. My anger was that they should have told me straight up, not smiling in my face one day and then acting a different way. That is why I decided to leave,” Ighalo said.

In late January, Ighalo left Al-Shabab for another Saudi side Al Hilal, leading the team’s attack in February against Chelsea in FIFA Club World Cup game.