The Honourable Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has directed the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to stop the process of hiring a Foreign Technical Director.

That directive was given yesterday at a meeting he had with the NFF, in which he also asked the body to begin the process of engaging a qualified and competent Nigerian for the role.

Mallam Abdullahi explained that the decision was necessary as there are many competent Nigerians who have knowledge of grassroots football in the country and are better suited for the role of a Technical Director, whose main function is to identify and groom local talents.

In a similar vein, the Minister directed that henceforth footballers that are invited to the National Under-17 Football camp must show proof of having been in secondary school, or a similar institution, in the last three consecutive years.

He said this was meant to resolve controversy over the ages of footballers invited to the Under-17 Camp.