Nigeria: NFF Board Backs Gusau's Stance On 'Unwilling' Super Eagles

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19 April 2023
Daily Trust (Abuja)
By David Ngobua

The board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has officially thrown its weight behind the president, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, who had announced that henceforth only foreign based players who have shown sufficient interest in representing Nigeria would be invited to the Super Eagles.

The NFF president made the declaration of the recent sloppy performances of the Super Eagles, especially their 0-1 loss at home to the Wild Dogs of Guinea Bissau in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.

Interestingly, at the board meeting held on Monday in Abuja, the members of the NFF Executive Committee unanimously agreed that the federation shouldn't beg any player to come and play for the Super Eagles.

In the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, "the Board expressed distaste with recent results of the Super Eagles and the U23 Boys, and fully endorsed the NFF President's stated position that the Federation will never beg any player to wear the nation's colours.

"Whoever is not motivated for one reason or the other to represent Nigeria should always be bold enough to state this at the point of invitation. Any perceived lackadaisical attitude by any player wearing Nigeria's colours at international level will no longer be treated with kid gloves."

In a related development, the board also promised to deal decisively with football agents it described as 'nefarious individuals' whose activities in the past had contributed to the underwhelming performances of the various national teams.

"Genuinely disturbed by the vexed issue of agents and football merchants around the various National Teams and their debilitating effects on the performance of the teams over the past few years, the Board vowed to henceforth, mete out stiff sanctions to whoever is caught aiding or abetting, dealing, perpetrating or perpetuating the ignoble activities of these nefarious individuals no matter their roles, status or pedigree," said the NFF board.

And in order to further rejuvenate the domestic game, the Board took a decision that within the next one (1) month, the Federation should, through its governing structure best practice and as enshrined in the Statutes, constitute boards for the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), the Nigeria National League (NNL), the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) and the Nigeria Nationwide League One (NLO).

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