Celtic coach stops Efe Ambrose from joining Nigeria's Olympic squad

Samson Siasia's bid to take Efe Ambrose to the Olympics in Rio has been quashed by Celtic coach, Brendan Rodgers who is in the midst of a defensive crisis and is loathe to lose another defender. Brendan Rodgers is wrestling with injury problems in central defence, with Croatian Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata likely to miss the start of the Scottish Premiership season. 

Nigeria will play Japan in their first fixture on August 4, just 48 hours before Celtic begin their league campaign against Hearts. With no FIFA regulations forcing clubs to release players for the Rio games, however, Celtic have told the 27-year-old he is needed at home for the opening weeks of the new campaign.

Ambrose flew to Slovenia with the squad on Monday for a 10-day pre-season camp.