The Nation Newspaper

Category: Ade Ojeikere

  • Upfront wages: Who does that?

    Upfront wages: Who does that?

    We have bungled the process of securing the sole qualification ticket for the 2026 World Cup due to the administrative tardiness prevalent in the Dankaro House in Abuja. What is imperative now is how we use the lessons learned from our shambolic outings so far to guide us in winning all our home matches ahead of the 2030 edition. Super Eagles have played four home games in this series without any victory, despite parading a former Africa Footballer of the Year, Victor Osimhen and the incumbent holder of the African diadem, Ademola Lookman. If the Eagles had won three of their four home games, the country wouldn’t be requiring us to do any permutations in nicking the sole qualification in Group C.

    New Zealand, Japan, Iran, Argentina, the United States (US), Mexico, and Canada have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup, with the last three nations (US, Mexico and Canada) qualifying as the co-hosts of the competition. Not for the first time is FIFA toying with the co-hosting competition for the most prestigious soccer tournament in the world  – the senior World Cup. If it had her plans correctly executed, the Eagles would qualify for the 2026 Mundial, having two or three matches left as we did at the 1998 World Cup qualifiers with the White Witch Doctor, Phillipe Troussier as the Head Coach.

    The first lesson learned from our pre-World Cup games is that the NFF chieftains refused to get the Super Eagles a top-rated foreign coach befitting  of our players’ stature. We have thus far used five coaches not forgetting the dictum of too many cooks spoiling the broth. How could the NFF have committed this flaw knowing that for qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar all the participating countries received over $12 million as qualification bonus? Don’t we know that with the next edition being co-hosted by three nations that the logistics during the competition would be much? Common sense tells us that the qualification bonus would almost be hitting the roof. What a huge loss in the event that the country fails to qualify for the Mundial.

    The pedigree of the new Eagles foreign coach to be recruited would determine the quality of international matches the Super Eagles would play in the next five years. Nigeria has been slated to play three international friendly games in Moscow against Russia on June 6 and the United Cup tournament in London later in June and the NFF and Coach Eric Chelle are up in arms over the kind of players to pick for the matches. When will these people ever be serious, dear reader? You tell me.

    Sadly, these matches won’t attract any points for Nigeria in FIFA’s monthly rankings, making it imperative to ask  to what intent and purpose are these arranged friendlies? Which European club would release their players for such meaningless games? No player would risk his career to play such games only to be injured. What are the security and other guarantees in place for the game against Russia in Moscow on June 8? A non-FIFA ranking game for that matter. How safe is Moscow? Isn’t this another case of failure of leadership?

    How much are the organisers offering if the results of the matches won’t improve our FIFA ranking? Those federation members angling for domestic league players to be included in the squad to prosecute these games certainly have a hidden agenda. Have they considered the difficulties associated with securing entry visas for first time travellers out of the country? Did I hear the whisper of Notre Verbal? Perish that thought with the federation’s way of doing things? Shouldn’t Chelle be allowed to pick those he wants other than having his hands tied to his back?

    Wait a minute. Where in the world have we heard of coaches being paid their wages upfront for close to ten months? What is so special about such a sinister method now that we know that the European season is heading towards a close with many countries set to take stock towards a successful 2025/2026 season?

    This is the second time one would be writing about the need for the NSC boss to stand aside and allow the NFF chieftains to run their show. This way, the NSC can play its supervisory roles when the need arises.

    Imagine the NSC boss telling us that Super Eagles Head Coach, Chelle would be paid upfront until October. The questions the NSC boss ought to have asked those who introduced that style of payment would be what Chelle would be doing after May 31, if he isn’t already in Nigeria? The other questions would be to ask which country does that and why we chose to pay a man for doing nothing simply because he is a football coach? Who cursed Nigeria like this? Did Nigeria beg Chelle to coach Nigeria? Wasn’t he one who applied for the job and went through the screening exercises before he was selected? What is this upfront payment meant to achieve? Pity! We don’t learn from history.

    Read Also: CRIL urges FG to tackle rising insecurity, curb violence in Nigeria

    “It’s not the commission paying directly, the support group is providing relief so the NFF can focus on other critical needs,” Shehu Dikko said in an interview on Eagle 7 FM Sports Radio.

    “We are processing his payment upfront. The idea is to settle him completely, so he can concentrate on getting the team to the World Cup.

    “We’re not part of the contract. But we’re committed to ensuring the coach has all the support he needs. After all, this is about Nigeria. If we can help, we will. And we are doing just that.

    “The bonuses were paid immediately. While the players were still at dinner, before they had even showered, the money was already on the table. That level of organisation shows respect and commitment,” he said.

    What a pity! My dear chairman, when would we stop this rubbish of showing the world that we are a wealthy country? Did Mali pay Chelle upfront when he was their coach? Certainly not. Is this upfront clause contained in his contract? If yes, who signed such a document on Nigeria’s behalf/ If no, why pay a coach who lives outside the country watching our boys during their club games to guide him in picking the country’s best for international assignments?

    For the 2030 edition to be a stroll in the park, the leadership at the Dankaro House must go pending the outcome of the federation’s election which would be the most controversial, except the incumbent board implements the changes as espoused by the 10-year development plan committee headed by one-time NFF Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima. The leadership has failed in all ramifications as it appears the last NFF board was better than this, unfortunately.

    A leadership which would have cost Nigeria her passage into the 2018 World Cup by their administrative tardiness in fielding an ineligible Shehu Abdulahi in a deadpan last game against Algeria in Constantine, ought to have been sacked. Not so in Nigeria. He has since then been granted two extensions to his contract. Yet, we expect changes. No chance.

  • Poverty of ideas

    Poverty of ideas

    The cliché of when you fail to plan you invariably plan to fail rings so true about the outcome of the meeting held between Super Eagles players and chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on the way out of the woods in the country’s quest for the sole qualification ticket for Group C, in the ongoing 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Over 209 countries under the FIFA umbrella have partaken in the qualifiers so far, with the big boys distinguishing themselves in the matches based on different models they adopted. These give them the solutions to the myriads of obstacles as they navigate the thorny path to World Cup qualification.

    These models have been tested and trusted over time by the different countries adopting them. When these models are to be adopted, suggestions meant to upgrade them are considered and adopted irrespective of the pedigree in the game of those proposing the changes. No one’s suggestion is waved aside as we have here in Nigeria where some people claim monopoly of all knowledge and wisdom, simply because they have the ears of those in the government.

    And so when the news broke last week Wednesday that Super Eagles players were credited with $1,000 each, the need to interrogative the veracity of the story and what the money was meant for became imminent. Why do we take delight in putting the cart before the horse? This meeting ought to have been held before the 2026 World Cup qualifiers began. It would have cost us nothing to get the models adopted by the top15 nations who have attended the Mundial in recent times to evaluate how they have gotten the players to prosecute their World Cup qualifiers devoid of crisis before, during and after competition as we have had, culminating in the threat by Super Eagles not to play the second round game against France in 2014, except they were paid their outstanding entitlements. The government averted the show of shame by sending $3.8 million to settle the debts. No prize for guessing right that France beat Nigeria 2-0 in that tie. Nemesis.

    According to Sportinglife’s source on Tuesday: ”In fact, the daily allowances for the Rwandan match hasn’t been paid. Note that it’s the NSC that is to pay. They have not yet released the daily allowances meant for the Rwanda match.

    Read Also: African Weightlifting Senior Championship: Team Nigeria leads Medal Table with gold rush in Mauritius

    ”I thought over time that you are aware of this matter as per how the NFF funds its teams. Well,  the NFF normally sends national teams’ budgets to the Federal Government through the Ministry/NSC for approval. If the money is released, then players and officials of various teams are paid. If not, they are owed.

    ”However, based on the availability of funds from the NFF sponsors, the federation uses such funds to settle the players and/or officials, pending when the government releases its funds. At times, it takes months/years for it to be released. When such funds are not available, teams are owed.

    ”Unfortunately, this is always the situation. I am not holding brief for the NFF though.  I’m just giving you information as to what obtains,” the source said.

    What stood out like a sore thumb was the fact that the NSC took charge directly in the payment, raising the poser whether it was part of their responsibilities beyond serving as the channel for sending out what had been approved for the NFF by the Federal Government to them. If there was the need to interrogate how the money was spent, who would the NSC men hold responsible if they made the payment? Of course, the responses from probing questions thrown at those who should at the Dankaro House in Abuja indicated that when the cash was delayed, they had to use monies outsourced through their marketing initiatives to settle the bills. The imminent question to ask would be what of the money disbursed by the NSC when they get it, what would it be used for? This arrangement is untidy.

    But I trust the NSC chiefs to immediately address this accounting flaw. However, this is part of the bureaucratic bottlenecks in governance in the country. Could it be that one of the parties involved in the chain of approvals didn’t do his job by delaying the process from his side? We need to know since it is one of the reasons the federation is always going cap in hand for cash.

    Back to the Super Eagles and the $1,000 paid into their different accounts, which is a decision worthy of applause. It would be easier to track the liars when needless disputes arise. This writer was told that the players and the NFF at one of their meetings agreed that players would each be paid $1,000 along with the daily allowances for the period of their stay in the camp preparatory to the game.

    The players went further to accept from the NFF the payment of World Cup qualification bonuses when the country eventually gets Group C’s sole qualification ticket for the 2026 World Cup to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. Need I say this arrangement is a no-brainer if we fail to qualify for the 2026 World Cup? This meeting succeeded in reducing the money spent on prosecuting the qualification ticket. Is this what other nations pay? Does this agreement guarantee the country the qualification ticket not just Group C’s, going forward?

    We need an all-embracing template that ensures every facet in the chain for progress recognises team bonding, unity among the players, and a healthy synergy between everyone in the squad and the management of the NFF. After all, they are no kids. Truth be told, Nigeria has the youngest set of players for the 2030 World Cup. And the time to start assembling those players is now. 2030 is just five years away with the oldest players being 22 years old now.

    To achieve some of these targets, we need to identify what we want to achieve and build on it. Most countries’ football growth stems from grassroots communities such that when new talents are discovered, it is easy to know where it all started because each community will celebrate its own. Simply put, sports, not just soccer, grows its stem from the catchment areas from ages four to six, where the kids can be taught the rudiments of the game. Since such schemes pervade all the communities, blue-chip firms can identify with sports of their choice – most times soccer because of its immense followership. What the communities provide are platforms to discover, nurture and expose their young ones to games that they like.

    Countries measure their growth in soccer by the number of domestic league players in their national teams. The ripple effect of this is that the domestic league matches are watched by a crowd of soccer lovers weekly, invariably increasing the revenue of the domestic clubs.  Our league games won’t attract foreigners like we had in the past if we play before an almost empty stadium and can’t offer good money to lure them here. It isn’t enough for the government to fund clubs. The governors should ensure that credible people manage the teams.

    They should be given targets and timelines to deliver on mandates given, otherwise, they are asked to go. One of the targets governors should give to those who administer clubs is to ensure they are listed by the Stock Exchange. It is laughable that none of the clubs’ value is public knowledge. How, then, do they expect the blue-chip firms to do business with them?

  • $1,000 for what?

    $1,000 for what?

    According to the reports released by FIFA, the total prize money for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be $896 million for the men’s event. Hmmmm! Who won’t go for it? At the least to have a bite from the Cherry. Any right-thinking group would stop at nothing to get an expert briefing on how to get one of the big banks to do business with them and how best to prosecute a seamless campaign for the 2026 World Cup, where for qualifying for the competition, every qualifying nation gets $12 million as a qualification bonus.

    These figures are mouth-watering for those who know how to make money, not those who lavish cash on nonsense or rely on government money, which is cheap and, most times, unaccountable. Only planless groups watch in awe or scratch their heads when the results of matches go awry. It becomes a tale of the unexpected. We have come to accept these mistakes as the norm despite Nigeria’s six (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, and 2018) appearances at Senior World since our debut in 1994 in the United States (US).

    Our sports administrators are suffering from poverty of ideas for the good of the beautiful game here. Rather than get people to think for them, they prefer to stew in their mess. Pity. I was at the Atlanta’96 Olympic Games and one of the few in Nigeria who waited to see the outcome of the women’s long jump before heading for Georgia to watch the Dream Team 1’s crucial game. A classmate at the Government College Ughelli, who I had not seen since 1976, offered to drive a few of us to watch the football game.

    With a car on standby, we watched Chioma Ajuwa leap to glory for Nigeria with a gold medal in a field of world beaters in the women’s story. Goose pimples still run through me, watching Ajunwa trot towards a little girl holding the Nigeria flag to pick it up and continue her lap of honour for medallists. I won’t blame our sports chiefs who chose to travel early for the Dream Team 1 game. What Ajunwa did was magical. It changed the narrative among people, having been tagged a pariah nation due to the devious acts of the goggled one in that inglorious jackboot era of administration.

    Travelling aboard a Greyhound bus all through the night from Atlanta to Philadelphia after the Olympics was joyful as everywhere one went in Philly, the atmosphere changed the moment one was linked to the Games. Spontaneously, you would hear from appreciative Americans and other nationals present ”Nigeria. Kanu, Amokachi, Jay Jay Okocha e.t.c.” Not forgetting photo shots with them as if one bore any of the names mentioned.

    Read Also: Flying Eagles’ preparations for U-20 AFCON excites Zubairu

    Yes, sports is the biggest Public Relations (PR) tool any government can use to change people’s negative perception of any nation free of charge.

    Lottery schemes for funding such things concerning athletes’ welfare, career path growth, healthcare needs, planning such athletes’ future, etc. Others address their monetary problems for sports ambassadors through trust funds specifically for such needs, not otherwise.

    Those who run our football are either too forgetful (forgive me, please), or they intentionally cast an indulgent eye to imminent pitfalls ahead, only to say when such problems arise, ”But I warned earlier, you thought you knew it all.” This is the premise of all issues not only football but all the sports federations. The question to the federations is to plead with the National Sports Commission (NSC) to raise a memo to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve a sports budget which would ensure that all requests are accommodated on a four-yearly schedule or a two-year or even one-year to cater for all their needs. The question would be how do other countries run their sports without such hitches?

    It is an insult to pay Super Eagles stars $1,000 for beating Rwanda in Kigali. What can $1000 do for them? I’m sure the boys would have played for free instead of what they were paid weeks after the game. I hope when the players start to skip matches on flimsy grounds or collaborate with their European clubs to feign injuries, we will know where we courted the problem(s). Our administrators are poor students of history.

    We are in a tight corner. Rather than motivate the players with cash to be at their best, we are offering them what they won’t give to their friends. All countries reward their players handsomely. It is the reason they leave their clubs to play for their countries whenever there is a clash of fixtures with their national teams. Does it make any motivational sense for a sane player to leave his club and fly aboard the aircraft for between six to nine hours to Nigeria only to be paid $1,000? Who does that? Imagine what those boys go through for away fixtures taking cognisance of what the Libyans did to them, only to hear on their phones the alert sound for $1,000. What do the accompanying big men earn as estacodes or is it per diem?

    Let’s be fair. The lifespan of athletes is between one year and ten years, barring injuries. Therefore, they need to save for their future. It is the reason clubs splash big cash to sign them. No player would leave a club where he is sure of the three points which could fetch him between $30,000 and $50,000 for a Nigerian assignment to be paid $1,000 after nine weeks. It won’t happen, especially seeing former Nigerian players languishing in penury.  Nothing is free even in Freetown.

    How do you give Victor Osimhen $1000? How do you go from paying these players $10,000 for away victories to that paltry $1,000 fee and we want the boys to fight and qualify for the World Cup? We are NOT going anywhere. How much were the NFF officials paid for just travelling to watch the players while they sweat under harsh climatic conditions representing Nigeria? Is it not true that FIFA would pay us above $12000 for qualifying as a qualification bonus? So, why are we paying the players peanuts? Maybe the NFF should learn from other federations.

    The countries that excel in sporting events have systems that guarantee enough funds for the sportsmen and sportswomen to compete with the best such as tax rebates on sport-friendly firms, lotteries, and businesses owned by wealthy nationals who know what is in such a sponsorship that benefits them by the sitting government. Such financial taxes are spelt out to companies and wealthy citizens after agreements have been reached. These cast-in-stone policies are binding to all the parties to such an extent that breaches are adequately addressed to allow either of the parties to seek redress in court.

    The beauty of this organised method of funding is it gives all the concerned sponsors enough time to schedule their commitments to their operative management boards to provide for them in the yearly budgets for the duration of the contractual agreements with reliant government parastatals for the exercise.

    For Nigeria to achieve excellence and meet the objective requirement for the rapid development of our sports industry, then we must broaden the finance base of the industry and create the right conditions for private sector funding and investment in sports. But, the government must lead this movement by doing away with the fiscal budgets and introducing a sports budget that takes care of the annual, biannual, and quarterly sports competitions such as the World Cup, the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games e.t.c without qualms.

    What do you think, dear reader? You tell me.

  • Let’s tell the truth

    Let’s tell the truth

    History never forgets. It pays a lot to tell the truth no matter whose ox is gored. I’ve read with pain how facts have been twisted on the issue of Algeria getting the three points back from Nigeria during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Super Eagles fielded Shehu Abdullahi in the last game in Algeria when he was ineligible due to two yellow cards he received before that game in Constantine, which ended 1-1, not forgetting John Ogu’s pile drive for the first goal.

    Indeed, the Algerians played the game under protest.  Jealously made them keep the facts to themselves, having seen Abdullahi dressed to play the match. He, interestingly played for 82 minutes before he was substituted. So, there was no need to present the protest letter out of time like Lesotho did before they eventually withdrew it, depending on the veracity of this withdrawal claim.

    In the ensuing wahala, it was discovered that FIFA sent our football federation a notice about Abdullahi’s ineligibility for the Algeria game. But in our usual style of dismissing issues, it slipped our memory to implement the FIFA notice. Perhaps, if we needed those points as we do now, we would have pulled our ears to do the right thing – drop Abdullahi from the game entirely. Besides, nobody got punished for the administrative slip simply because it didn’t cause Nigeria’s ouster from the 2018 World Cup held in Russia. Time was when the balls FIFA sent to affiliate soccer federations with Nigeria’s consignments stuck in the Nigerian port. Guess what, Nigeria had to use those balls owned by South Africa in a World Cup qualifier against Bafana Bafana. No prize for guessing correctly that the South Africans beat the Super Eagles in Uyo with their FFA-donated balls. Heads didn’t roll for this slip. It is what it is with the game’s administration in Nigeria.

    The critical aspect of the reminder notices is that it isn’t only common to FIFA. Last Friday, UEFA confirmed the eligibility of four key Real Madrid players for the Tuesday night Champions League game against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, which the Gunners won resoundingly 3-0. Arsenal served Real Madrid players enough plates of rice on Tuesday night to shock the world. Is this going to be Arsenal’s year to lift the UEFA Champions League diadem? We pray O Lord, Amen.

    A team that hasn’t been able to win a game from four home fixtures, has no business whatsoever participating during the 2026 World Cup to be co-hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico. No chance. Our players come here to prosecute our matches unable to reproduce their European clubs’ form. Yet, they return to Europe three or four days later to rule their world during matches scoring goals with aplomb. Did you say why? Of course, poor coaching at our national team level.

    Yet, when we are in the process of recruiting a competent coach for the Super Eagles, critics bring out their calculators to find out the naira equivalent of what these coaches are asking for. Ironically, 90 per cent of these critics have their kids in some of the best schools in the world and here in Nigeria. My problem with those insisting on us having a Nigerian coaching bench is that they forget the huge financial returns on this kind of investment if the team does well in such a major soccer competition as the senior World Cup. Critics of the issue of employing a truly top-notch European manager are suffering from fermented hypocrisy.

    I’m not a prophet of doom. I enjoy speaking the truth to our sports administrators who think that the world must wait for Nigeria to wake up from her slumber. No way. Sports is dynamic with defining moments meant for discerning minds to evaluate and make the right decisions. Sports are no longer essentially for recreation. It is now business by people who think outside the box not snoring folks like ours. The pain of this contemptuous scenario resulting from our refusal to plan for the future is that it keeps repeating itself in embarrassing proportions. Yet, we expect different results.

    Read Also: Truth or Dare: The dangerous s3x game in Nollywood

    We appear not to know that we are nearer the exit door than to qualify to participate in the 2026 World Cup. One would have thought that our football federation’s chieftains would have asked Eric Chelle to remain in Nigeria to start mini camps for home-based he has spotted and those he would spot later to see if he can find young, talented defenders instead of insulting our sensibilities by flaunting names of kids in Europe with Nigerian parents to woo them to play for Nigeria. Sad.

    We have allowed Chelle to return home with the usual instructions to return to Nigeria with two weeks left to the friendly games in June. Are we paying him to stay at home doing nothing? What happened to the accommodation in Abuja? Is it meant for termites, reptiles e.t.c, and not human beings? Is it that Chelle doesn’t have an office or work schedule to effectively keep him busy? Is it that the NFF chiefs aren’t abreast with the new technology that makes it easy for Chelle to do things he has been allowed to go home for? Nigeria, we hail thee.

    ”The budget for 2026 will reach new commercial heights in connection with the FIFA World Cup and will assist FIFA in its mission to provide Member Associations with unprecedented financial support,” according to the world soccer governing body’s Mundial document.

    What this message presupposes is that all the participating countries at the 2026 World Cup are in for a bountiful harvest. It is also obvious that more money would be paid to the qualifiers as qualification bonuses. At the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the qualification bonus was $12 million each, an increment on previous qualification bonuses of $8 million. The 2026 edition would be mouth-boggling, considering the fact the competition would be co-hosted by three nations: the United States, Mexico, and Canada. One wonders why these novel innovations don’t motivate our football federation bosses to prosecute this next edition flawlessly.

    With six World Cup appearances in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, and 2018, Nigeria may just be the only nation with no record of how much it cost her to prosecute each of the six outings. It is the reason the federation can’t plan for anything. Sadly so.

    Qualifying for the Mundial since Nigeria recorded her debut appearance in 1994 in the United States has been a battle with Clemens Westerhoff’s relationship with the departed Vice President Augustus Aikhomu being the saving grace. Westerhof had unlimited access to the President and was given whatever he needed to sustain his rebuilding processes. Super Eagles, until Westerhof came, had become super chickens with jesters having a small comedy where a little child preferred staying with the Super Eagles than his mother for the simple fact that they don’t beat anyone.

    Nigeria is in very big trouble. The country must wake up to the reality that our national flag won’t be hoisted among the comity of nations at the 2026 World Cup to be co-hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

    I wish the Super Eagles everything that they wish themselves in this World Cup campaign. Good luck Nigeria! 

  • Before Chelle goes

    Before Chelle goes

    No stories. The World Cup is neither executed through prayers, nor is it a lottery or a centre where anyone can walk in to operate the gaming machines. No. It is a platform to showcase excellence built over time and not a stage to exhibit mediocrity as we have always done in the past.

    If Nigeria must avoid missing the next World Cup, the players must know the implications of not attending the Mundial. Not attending the World Cup for eight years would destroy the progress we have achieved in the past. Nigeria’s other cadres have missed out on participating in their World Cups. We glossed over it. Soon, the hurricane would sweep off Nigeria from the senior World Cup, leaving in its wake sorrow, blood, tears, and all shades of buck-passing. What a pity. I weep for Victor Osimhen.

    What does patriotism to your fatherland mean in football? Let’s take a trip back to the Euro 2020 Final and watch how Cristiano Ronaldo, in spite of his injury, sat on the bench and joined the coaching crew on the touchline to shout, instruct, and motivate his colleagues to victory. CR7 could have walked down into the dressing room to do other things, but the patriotism in him didn’t make him do that. He joined in that instance to ensure victory for his country. Luke Shaw was shown a red card against Italy but stayed with the England squad for the next game against Ukraine despite being suspended for the match instead of returning to Manchester United. Patriotism, passion and loyalty are the identities of a warrior, and the players mentioned above understand this wholeheartedly.

     Would we also want another shameful situation where we wake up one morning to find the international media awash with stories that Eric Chelle has quit the Super Eagles as Head Coach, like most of his predecessors have done in the past?

    Can any follower of the game categorically say that the contractual deal between Chelle and his employer, NFF,  is cast in stone? Can we beat our chests to say that Chelle has been paid his wages, bonuses and allowances to date? Again, what would Chelle be doing between April and early September when  the next two World Cup games would be played? Who has seen Chelle’s contract to say that all the terms can be met, beginning with getting an official car and driver, not forgetting a befitting five-star accommodation space fitted with an Olympic-sized swimming pool to say the least?

    Would anyone be surprised to read here that there are whispers in the camp about unpaid entitlements for the coaches and backroom staff?  I hope the NFF knows that the European clubs would be neck deep in their preparations for the 2025/26 season. They wouldn’t be favourably disposed towards releasing their players for national team matches. The players too, would want to participate in their clubs’ pre-season training sessions to quicken the processes of blending the old and recruits meant to fortify their European clubs.

    Already, we are being told that the NFF will soon schedule a crisis meeting to address undisclosed subject heads. Indeed, it appears that Chelle’s contract doesn’t specify what would happen in the future. However, uncertainty over his long-term position has reportedly left him reconsidering his role.

    According to Nigerian sports journalist and lawyer, Osasu Obayiuwana, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has convened an emergency meeting to discuss the situation.

    Read Also: NNPC: Ojulari takes over from Kyari, seeks management, staff support to attain enormous targets

    “Eric Chelle is considering terminating his contract as Super Eagles manager. Sources within the NFF say that uncertainty over his fate beyond the FIFA World Cup qualifying series has led to a dramatic change of heart.  The NFF will hold a crisis meeting to address the matter,” Obayiuwana revealed.

    Yes, Chelle has seen that Nigeria’s chances of participating in the 2026 World Cup are far-fetched. And he needs to plot the trajectory of this movement as a professional football manager so that he isn’t marooned with Nigeria’s anticipated failure to pick the Group C’s sole qualification ticket. Ignore the cheap talk of qualifying as the group’s second-best team. This comes with another round of more difficult games.

    Rather than allow the laws take its course on the issue of South Africa fielding an unqualified player against Lesotho, our soccer federation chieftains are taking turns to shed light on it publicly, forgetting that the task of winning the remaining four matches is much easier than leading the campaign for the points deduction from their current points haul. What these NFF busybodies don’t understand is that deducting three points from Bafana Bafana’s points’ haul leaves the door ajar for Republic of Benin to finish in second position, of course, Benin have no game against South Africa making the last Group C game between Nigeria and Benin one in which the visitors a spoiler when the chips are down in October.

    I hope nobody will be talking about a South African conspiracy when the Rwandans come to Uyo in September to play us as if it is their first game in the competition. NFF people must learn how to keep their traps shut with due respect. If the Rwandans come to Uyo for the three points, it would be a legitimate ambition, having beaten us 2-1 inside the Stadium of Champions in Uyo during one of the Africa Cup of Nations qualification games.

    Now that we have a coach for the Eagles, NFF chieftains should task Chelle to establish enduring structures for the team to return to its previous winning form rather than insult fans with sloppy displays reminiscent of what we saw in Uyo last month against Zimbabwe, which ended 1-1. Nigeria has lost the fear factor, which made teams pitched against us here panic before the kick-off until they eventually get bombed with goals on match day. Rock in your casket, gangling Rashidi Yekini.

    NFF should allow the coach to pick his players since the buck stops on his table when things go awry. It won’t be a bad idea if the present members of the body’s Technical Subcommittee are removed and replaced with practising tacticians of repute. Being a former footballer doesn’t immediately qualify you to be a member of the NFF technical sub-committee.

    Whenever the Super Eagles’ team lists are released, they always look the same. Those who tottered during the competitions are swept back into the team on the altar of being experienced. The question to them is when will the budding talents in the 774 Local Government Areas of the country be eligible to play for Nigeria? In the past, we used to blame a mafia to certain players in the former Midwestern region in Nigeria. A senior colleague described those calling the shots before team lists are released as the ”committee of friends,” with the coaches kowtowing to their choices.

    Indeed, Chelle should develop a template that makes it mandatory for only regular players from the top European leagues to be invited to play for Nigeria going forward. Chelle needs to be told to stick to his plans by committing the country to play warm-up international friendlies against countries better than the Super Eagles to really assess our team. Friendly matches are trial games designed to expose new players and identify areas for improvement in the team, thereby introducing healthy competition for shirts among the players.

  • Super Eagles captain, Osimhen

    Super Eagles captain, Osimhen

    It is finished. We like listening to ourselves. We dislike being told the bitter truth. We think that things should be swung in our favour simply because we are Nigeria. Indeed. We have forgotten that it is easier to wake up a person deep in sleep than one who is pretending to sleep. For the latter, the pretender, he doesn’t want to listen to you. This is the story of Nigeria’s sports administration succinctly.

    Instead of spending the quiet moments before the game on Tuesday evening reflecting on the game, our busybody sports administrators spent time celebrating a likely deduction of three points from South Africa for fielding an unqualified player in their game against Lesotho last week Friday. Bafana Bafana won the match 2-0. The euphoria from a pyrrhic celebration soon got to the boys. And it was being discussed with the media celebrating what wasn’t in the bag, yet. It is important to ask NFF and those media people who escalated the infringement of the law by South Africa if FIFA would award the points to Nigeria instead of Lesotho.

    Zimbabwe coach Michael Nees mocked the Nigerian media in Tuesday night’s post-match conference where he reminded them of the need to be humble. “I said before that the World Cup qualification is over when it is over. If it is over for us then it is over for Nigeria also,” Nees said. His statement caused some laughter among the Nigerian journalists, and he replied, “You’re laughing, how many points do you (Nigeria) have?”This jab is below the belt.

    Again, we witnessed in Uyo where Nigeria’s Head Coach, Eric Chelle barred visitors, journalists, e.t.c from entering the team’s camp for maximum concentration for the boys. Yet, one of the federation’s sponsors was permitted to showcase their brands with the players captured driving the vehicles a day before the game. You need to have seen Ola Aina’s dexterity on wheels. Let’s ask the federation’s chieftains and Chelle if this exercise wasn’t a distraction. How about those skit-making girls seen on tape creating content from interviewing the players? Our players were the only ones on social media. Pity.

    We have surrendered with Chelle having the audacity to tell the media in a post-match press conference held inside the Stadium of Champions in Uyo on Tuesday night that Nigeria can still qualify for the 2026 World Cup as second best nation from Group C. What do you expect from a person who isn’t a world class manager? But even the task of being second best for Nigeria is a mountain to climb because currently the teams occupying these playoff spots are Gabon (15 points), Cameroon (12 points), Senegal (12 points) and Namibia (12 points).

    Comoros (12 points), Mozambique (12 points) and Burkina-Faso (11 points) are also ahead of the Super Eagles, who are on seven points.

    But for the fact that football is like biscuit where nobody can determine where it would crack, one would have suggested that the Federal Government should authorise the NSC and indeed NFF to begin the preparations towards grabbing the 2030 World Cup qualification ticket like Japan, New Zealand, Iran and Argentina have done with the 2026 edition. These four qualifiers have joined the three co-hosting nations, Canada, Mexico and the United States, as the early birds for the 2026 World Cup competition.

    With seven points and an away game to South Africa, it would require the players to play out their skins to beat Bafana Bafana at home in September. It is achievable arithmetically, but not with these players to prosecute the kill-and-go match plans to upset Bafana Bafana in Johannesburg. We would require all the players to play the game with the kind of passion, enthusiasm and hunger for glory displayed by Victor Osimhen in the last two matches, where he has scored three goals despite being marked tightly by at least two defenders.

    It is important to stress Osimhen’s significant contributions in the two matches. Of course, had Osimhen been part of the campaign from the beginning, perhaps our situation wouldn’t have been as precarious as it is today. Soon, nations playing against Nigeria would work strategies to stop Osimhen from scoring goals in Nigeria’s matches. That will be the day when certain lessons will be learned.

    Read Also: Empowering Tomorrow: The bold vision of the Nigerian youth academy 

    In fact, Troost-Ekong has apologised to his teammates and assured fans that the team remains focused on securing a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. “Responsibility taken. Same target ahead. We will do it together! Nigeria Super Eagles,” the 31-year-old defender wrote on Twitter, responding to the backlash.

    Bafana Bafana’s remaining games are in South Africa. It’s almost impossible for them to lose any of these matches, which incidentally include the tie against Nigeria in September. What did Nigeria do when Lesotho and Zimbabwe chose South Africa as their home venues instead of a neutral ground? On Thursday, Lesotho graciously withdrew their protest against South Africa after they fielded an ineligible player in their 2026 World Cup qualifying match.

    As Nigerians, we all want the Super Eagles to be at the Mundial in 2026, but let’s be honest: These players have let themselves down, winning just one game out of six. It’s disturbing that Nigeria failed to beat Zimbabwe over two legs, drawing at home against South Africa and Lesotho and losing to Benin Republic on neutral ground in Cote d’ Ivoire.

    Last week, we advocated that if we won all our six games, we would be fine. Now, the tone has changed to us winning our remaining four matches. For how long would we continue to shift the goalpost? Is it until we move it to displace the crowd? Common NSC, NFF, coaches and the players – you have bungled it!

    Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games gold medal-winning coach Johannes Bonfrère raised concerns over the team’s tactical approach and lack of ruthlessness in front of the goal.

    According to Bonfrere: “I didn’t watch the game, but did the coach not have enough information on Zimbabwe? Did he use the wrong tactics? Or did the players fail to execute the game plan? Was it a loss of concentration? Why couldn’t the attackers score more goals? If they had put away two or three chances, Zimbabwe’s late goal wouldn’t have mattered as much.

    “It’s sad, painful, and unfortunate. Small teams are now looking the Super Eagles in the eye and asking, ‘What can you do?’ No team fears them anymore, and that is worrying.”

    Can Nigeria still qualify for the 2026 World Cup? Not anymore, great patriot. Let us rebuild the Super Eagles with Osimhen as the team’s captain. Any player older than Osimhen should excuse us. We can use the new squad to prosecute our next four qualifiers and see how well they perform.

    Time to infuse the home-based players into the Eagles, beginning with the defenders. don’t you think so? You tell me, dear reader.

  • World Cup, our birthright?

    World Cup, our birthright?

    Super Eagles players are cruel. They repeatedly toy with our emotions with their lackadaisical attitude towards most of the matches leading to grabbing the qualification tickets to big international competitions such as the World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations etc. They report late to the camp, with many of them opting to go home to ‘flex’ as they say it in the discotheque parlance after the early release by the European clubs to play for their countries, in this case, Nigeria.

    These over-pampered players only get to be serious when the country’s chances of qualifying for competitions become dicey as if other countries should wait for them to wake up from their slumber. How can Nigeria play in a group that has Lesotho, Benin Republic, Zimbabwe and South Africa and we can’t win a game after four matches? Yet, we want to go to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. DEY PLAY!

    When they eventually decide to head for the camp, they show no remorse over their unbecoming attitude which always leaves the coaches with the short part of the stick whenever the results of the matches go awry. Sadly, it is the coaches who carry the brunt when the team loses or draws. Ironically, these boys get applause when Nigeria wins games. Our players rudely behave as if they are doing Nigerians a favour with their nauseating performances, forgetting that most of them gained international prominence playing for the country’s age-grade teams or/and playing for Nigerian clubs in domestic tournaments from where they are selected to represent the country in big international, continental, regional and national soccer competitions.

    The disturbing scenario of our players’ lateness to the Super Eagles camp is clearly noticeable when the team’s Head Coach is at the helm with the football federation’s officials unable to stem the slide. However, as we can see, these boys arrived in camp in Kigali on time with no stories of missed flights etc which underlines my earlier comment that these are cruel. I have chosen to do this column on Wednesday such that one can provide Eric Chelle with the background on why he must serve each player the team’s code of conduct book, going forward. The arrival in Kigali, without any iota of doubt gave Chelle the platform to have enough training sessions to set his plans for the Wasp of Rwanda on Friday irrespective of the outcome of the game which would have been known. I have taken the risk to discuss some of the problems that have kept Nigeria’s chances of securing Group C’s sole qualification ticket, which ordinarily should be a piece of cake, given our players’ exploits in the game all over the world. What our inept officials fail to realise when they make assurances about our abilities to grab the sole ticket is that three countries have seven points each before our game in Kigali. This makes it more precarious for us to achieve if we are to look at the group objectively based on how the countries have played in their last four matches. Until the Rwanda game on Friday evening in Kigali, Nigeria had only a miserable three points. Benin have seven points like Rwanda until their Friday (yesterday’s ) game against Zimbabwe. Or do they think it is only Nigeria who would improve on her poor standing?

    Read Also: World Cup 26: Tuchel begins England reign  today against Albania

    The NFF people, unrepentant optimists of the Super Eagles and indeed like minds, should stop evaluating our chances of snatching the group’s sole qualification ticket in isolation of what others are likely to do with their remaining matches. It would be unwise for Nigeria to discount the South Africans who would be laying siege for us when we hit Johannesburg for the return game. Have we forgotten that Zimbabwe play their home games in South Africa. Do we expect them to beat Bafana Bafana at home? If yes, then show me a virgin as a maternity patient.

    I always feel like throwing up reading some of our players’ pre-match interviews, promising victories, only to deceive us with their shambolic displays, losing to countries who don’t have the quality, exposure and experience of our players who rule their world playing for their European clubs. We haven’t been able to run the rule over these kinds of players, preferring to heap the blame on the system that throws up incompetent sports administrators with their misrule. A body that was indebted to the players, coaches and backroom staff for 29 matches spanning into years can’t be said to be efficient. A body which doesn’t see anything wrong in taking two jets on a round trip amounting to N400 million, doesn’t understand the meaning of being prudent with funds. If only Nigeria had a national carrier. Pity!

    The Rwandans didn’t come to Uyo for the first leg with two charter jets to beat Nigeria 2-1 inside the Stadium of Champions, Uyo in 2024. I wonder what those busybodies’ would be doing in Kigali to necessitate their presence at the stadium. The two jets we were told were to convey spectators to the match venue on match day and back to the country after the game. Is that all they would do? One is forced to ask how players who played the game would relax and move around inside the aircraft on a loaded flight. What would they be telling the players  in the event that we don’t win the game (God forbid), which is the only result to get to rekindle our hopes for Group C’s sole qualification ticket?

    We have imbibed this eerie habit of leaving things late to create tension for Nigerians for issues and events others handle seamlessly. It appears we are moving closer to the stage where our fingers would be burnt. Nigeria was lucky that Zimbabwe rallied back from being down by two goals to tie the scores of the game against the Republic of Benin at 2-2 on Thursday, otherwise, Benin would have gotten 10 points instead of the eight points against their name on the points table. Can you imagine Nigeria placed behind Lesotho in the group as at Friday evening before the day’s matches? That is how poor the country’s outings have been. We can’t continue with this panicky measure every time for a tournament we had four years to prepare for.

    Once again, we are using our qualification matches to mould a team for the 2026 World and think it is fair that we snatch the group’s sole ticket simply because we are Nigeria. Who does that? The senior World Cup is a platform to showcase excellence while making the game beautiful to watch and savour. Not a forum to exhibit mediocrity. Are we not tired of going to the World to play the mandatory three-group games only to be edged out in the second round? The time to stop this tomfoolery is nigh.

    Come to think of it, is the World Cup our birthright? You tell me.

  • Where are our goalkeepers?

    Where are our goalkeepers?

    I don’t envy Super Eagles Head Coach Eric Chelle. He has a daunting task on his hands. I align with his decision to gamble on certain positions in the Super Eagles that require immediate surgery even if it means cutting off the nose to spite the face. These are emergency times for Chelle. Quick fixes? Call it whatever you like. Chelle, you have our backing because the rot in the Eagles is cancerous. Not one to paper over the cracks. Come on, Chelle, make the emergency moves now. Well done.

    Yes, I get irritated reading transfer stories on Nigerians who qualify to be invited to train with the Super Eagles being asked to sign for clubs in novelty leagues such as in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Niger, etc, with due respect to the countries. Imagine this transfer,  Wolwalo Adigrat University side in Ethiopia signed goalkeeper Olorunleke Ojo and the illustration picture was taken at one of those Super Eagles invitation camps. Really sad! The only reason I would accept this transfer is if Ojo is an undergraduate in this Wolwalo Adigrat University. What is the matter with the NFF? Ojo, at a time was the best domestic league goalkeeper, earning him repeated Super Eagles invitation letters only to resurface in Ethiopia. This is the reason our good goalkeepers no longer play for European clubs as it was in the past.

    Looking at the clubs where Nigeria’s three chosen goalkeepers are: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Kayode Bankole (Remo Stars), all have been invited for the battles against Rwanda on March 21 in Kigali four days later in Uyo against Zimbabwe, one is forced to ask what has happened to our talented goalkeepers? Time was when two or three goalkeepers in the Super Eagles plied their trade in Europe. Not anymore. Can Nigerians feel comfortable watching any of these three goalkeepers at the World Cup against established stars? No chance. More so when there isn’t anyone on the horizon that we can headhunt for in Europe as was our practice, when we used to shop for replacements in weak areas in the Super Eagles.

    Interestingly, Super Eagles goalkeepers at World Cup  beginning with the country’s debut appearance at the Mundial in the USA in 1994  were the late Wilfred Agbonavbare who manned the goalpost for Spanish side, Rayo Vallecano; Alloy Agu  was the regular goalie for Turkey side, Kayserispor and the Super Eagles regular goalkeeper in USA 1994 Mundial, Peter Rufai who brought his experience from playing in such European clubs as K.S.C. Lokeren, K.S.K. Beveren, Go Ahead Eagles, S.C. Farense, Hércules CF, Deportivo de La Coruña, and Gil Vicente FC in Europe, to bear during Nigeria’s 1994 World Cup matches.

    Nigeria participated at the France 98 World Cup with Rufai who had changed clubs from Portugal to Spanish side Deportivo La Coruña, Abiodun Baruwa who played then in Switzerland for FC Sion and Willy Okpara who manned the goalposts in South Africa for Orlando Pirates.

    Read Also: Six AI hacks transforming how Nigerian Gen Zs hustle smarter, live better

    At the Japan/ Korea World Cup in 2002, Nigeria took a crisis-ridden Super Eagles squad, yet the team had a tested goalkeeper in Ike Shorunmu who was the regular first choice goalie in Switzerland for Lausanne. Shorunmu was spectacular in the opening game against Argentina. Shorunmu’s heroics ensured that the scores were respective with a nifty header of a corner kick score by Gabriel Batistuta being the only goal of the match.

     The bitter crisis between the players and chieftains of the defunct Sports Ministry threw up a lot of contraptions with Adegboye Onigbinde picked to rescue an almost sunk side. Of course, he had no choice but to pick the best two goalkeepers  namely Austin Ejide of Gabros FC in Nnewi, Nigeria and  Vincent Enyeama of Enyimba FC of Aba. Yes, Enyeama did well against England with some reflex saves against England who played for a draw.

    The flipside to the search for Nigerian goalkeepers in Europe was the report on Tuesday in the media that Maduka  Okoye has been re-registered for this season by his Italia Serie A, Udinese FC.  Okoye had been accused of betting infringements forcing Udinese FC’s management to de-register him for the season. It appears Okoye isn’t guilty. It is a welcome development.

    The crisis in the Eagles at the South Africa 2010 World Cup was awful such that the team had two leaders – the designated NFF recognised by FIFA and the Presidential Task Force headed by His Excellency, the former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi leading the government team. It was a laughable setting yet the team had exposed goalkeepers plying their trade in three Israeli clubs, namely, Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, Hapoel Petach-Tikva and Hapoel Tel Aviv. Dele Aiyenugba was on the sheet of Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, Austin Ejide played for Hapoel Petach-Tikva and Vincent Enyeama’s magnetic fingers ensured that Hapoel Tel Aviv got rave reviews from the international media. Recall, Enyeama and Ejide were at the previous World Cup co-hosted by Japan and Korea.

    By the time of the Brazil 2014 World Cup, Enyeama had become a megastar in goal for  French Ligue Un side, Lille OSC with Ejide changing his Israeli side from Hapoel Petach-Tikva to Hapoel    Be’er Sheva and the third goalkeeper being Chigozie Agbim playing for one of Nigeria’s biggest clubs, Enugu Rangers International FC. The crisis in the Eagles in Brazil took an embarrassing dimension with the players refusing to train for the second round game except their $3.8 million debt owed them by the federation was fully paid. The Federal Government promptly paid to make sure it didn’t get into an international disgrace. Rather than train for the game against France, the players, coaches and backroom staff spent training time sharing $3.8 million cash. No prize for guessing right that France beat Nigeria 2-0.

    Russia 2018 World Cup had goalkeeper Francis Uzoho playing in Spain for Deportivo La Coruña bringing his European experience to bear on the team’s wobbly performance. Daniel Akpeyi, who played in South Africa for Chippa United, was officially the second-choice goalkeeper, and Ikechukwu Ezenwa of Enyimba FC Aba was the third-choice. You can see why our prayer sessions would be intense if Nigeria’s flag eventually got hoisted among the comity of nations at the 2026 World Cup, we pray O’ Lord.

    Super Eagles’ defence is lightweight going by the names of those picked such as William Ekong (Al-Kholood FC, Saudi Arabia); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahce SK, Turkey); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiacos FC, Greece); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Nottingham Forest, England) and Igoh Ogbu (SK Slavia Prague, Czech Republic). Nigerians would have to pray throughout both matches against injuries and yellow or red cards. Bassey’s tackles are quite rough. He shouldn’t be encouraged to go beyond our half of the pitch because he isn’t a fast runner. He clutches on the opponents’ shirts when he realises that he has been outrun.

    Already, Nahan Tella and Simon are ruled out of both matches in Kigali and Uyo due to injuries sustained playing for European clubs. Big headache for Chelle as he would be left with no choice but to pick from those in the 39-man squad to replace Tella and Simon. Chelle has an impressive squad in the midfield to provide the passes for Ademola Lookman and Osimhen to score goals. I hope our players give their best during both matches. What is your opinion on this subject, dear reader? You tell me.

  • Can these Eagles fly?

    Can these Eagles fly?

    It would be uncharitable to tag the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as a colony of jesters though some of their decisions on the beautiful game in Nigeria seem to suggest so. I’ve tremendous respect for most of them. How best can you describe a perpetually broke body that allows its employee to submit a 39-man team list unchallenged? I shudder to call them comedians, especially when they told us that they wanted to build a hotel to prune the huge sums of cash spent on accommodation whenever they assemble for a game.

    I deliberately refused to join issues with the federation when the NFF and NSC chieftains recently went on an inspection of the hotel’s site in Abuja, knowing that body doesn’t stop entertaining me with some of their weird decisions. Indeed, where would the NFF find the cash to build a five-star hotel in Abuja with a crowd of 39 foreign-based stars asked to fly straight to Kigali for the March 21 tie against Rwanda?  What happens to the hotel when the players, coaches and backroom staff don’t have games to play? I thought that the NFF and indeed their supervisors would have gone to the government asking to use some of the seized buildings by the EFCC, especially those handed back to the Federal Government, instead of embarking on another white elephant project.

    A body that is still indebted to the players, coaches and backroom staff has cast an indulgent eye on the huge expenses associated with camping 39 players for the game in Kigali for five days, except they are saying the Eagles Head Coach would prune the list to a manageable 23 players in the coming days? I laughed my heart off reading one online story which suggested that the team’s Head Coach Eric Chelle has plans to drop 15 players from the 39 he pencilled for both games against Rwanda in Kigali on March 21 and against Zimbabwe in Uyo, four days later. Medicine after death. Pity! In fact, I joked about it further when the names of those dropped were not mentioned nor did the dropped list come from the NFF through Dr. Ademola Olajire.

    At the unveiling of Chelle as the Super Eagles Head Coach, we were told he was an ardent follower of Nigeria’s senior soccer team, fuelling speculations that he would not toe the path of previous foreign coaches who invited between 28 to 38 players to camp for a game where only 16 of them eventually get to prosecute the game on match day. Not so for Nigerian administrators where prudence isn’t in the country’s lexicon when it comes to spending the government money which is cheap. Instead of a bogus 39-man list, it would show how well Chelle has been following Nigerian stars’ performances in the European leagues, if he invited 23 of them and listed between four or five as standby. I’ve always written here that there appears to be a fixed list where coaches employed to handle the Super Eagles must defer if they want to do their jobs. The only difference is the eight new likely debutants and a few home-based players which is understandable. Otherwise, how does anyone explain the choice of Kelechi Iheanacho and those nursing or recuperating from injuries in the 39-man list? Or would members of the NFF’s technical committee tell us that they too approved the invitation of 39 players? Incredible.

    Any coach who invites as many as 39 players for his first game is either confused or incompetent, I dare say. How can Chelle explain the choice of five goalkeepers (Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Maduka Okoye (Udinese FC, Italy); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Adeleye Adebayo (Enosis Paralimni, Cyprus); Kayode Bankole (Remo Stars) for an assignment he knows that European clubs would reluctantly release to countries between three to five days to the first game?

    Read Also: Tinubu appoints Jega as adviser on livestock reforms

    Looking at the 39-man list dispassionately and based on how the goalkeepers have fared for their clubs, it won’t be out of place to pick those with international matches experience. Of course, Nwabali and Okoye tower above others. If indeed there is synergy between Chelle and the Nigerian coaches who have been chosen to work with him, he should easily concede the choice of the third goalkeeper to them. No doubt the CHAN Eagles first choice goalkeeper should get the nod except he is injured. I don’t think so.

    Inviting 10 defenders (William Ekong (Al-Kholood FC, Saudi Arabia); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahce SK, Turkey); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiacos FC, Greece); Gabriel Osho (AJ Auxerre, France); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Nottingham Forest, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Igoh Ogbu (SK Slavia Prague, Czech Republic); Jordan Torunarigha (Gent FC, Belgium); Ifeanyi Onyebuchi (Rangers International) is quite a crowd?

    I can understand the choice of the home-based player Ifeanyi Onyebuchi  from Enugu Rangers International. I won’t be surprised if I’m told that Onyebuchi has left Enugu Rangers for one of the leagues these scouts use.

    Well, Chelle knows best. He is the one wearing the shoes and knows where it itches. I wish him good luck.

    Chelle chose 10 midfielders namely Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (Lazio FC, Italy); Frank Onyeka (Augsburg FC, Germany); Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Southampton FC, England); Anthony Dennis (Goztepe SK, Turkey); Chrisantus Uche (Getafe CF, Spain) and Papa Daniel Mustapha (Niger Tornadoes).

    Again, I can understand why Papa Daniel Mustapha from Niger Tornadoes in Minna was picked – for exposure? That is fine but I hope he isn’t already out of the country or is on the verge of travelling out of the country and needs a Super Eagles invitation to increase his market value.

    Whosoever allowed Iheanacho’s name to be included in this list doesn’t want him to develop beyond where his game has descended. The media has different channels to monitor happenings around the world, so those who listed Fisayo Dele-Bashiru who plays for Lazio FC, Italy should tell us where they saw him playing football in the last 12 days. Some Europa and Conference games were played on Thursday and Dele-Bashiru couldn’t feature for Lazio FC, in their UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie at Czech club Viktoria Plzen which Lazio won 2-1 in away turf.

    The joke in the 39-man squad was an invitation extended to Ahmed Musa, Super Eagles top scorer at the main World Cup. Chelle picked 14 strikers comprising (Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan, Italy); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Ademola Lookman (Atalanta FC, Italy); Kelechi Iheanacho (Middlesbrough FC, England); Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany); Simon Moses (FC Nantes, France); Sadiq Umar (Valencia FC, Spain); Nathan Tella (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany); Cyriel Dessers (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Tolu Arokodare (KRC Genk, Belgium); Chidera Ejuke (Sevilla FC, Spain); Paul Onuachu (Southampton FC, England); Ahmed Musa (Kano Pillars) and Jerome Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain).

    One only hopes that the choices here are Chelle’s. Otherwise, we are done for now that the die is cast or what do you feel about these scenarios, dear reader? You tell me.

  • World Cup ticket going…

    World Cup ticket going…

    March 21 is exactly 20 days from today and injuries have struck key Super Eagles players to further cripple an unbalanced team. Of course, this won’t be the best of times for the team’s Head Coach Eric Chelle who has the mantle to guide the Super Eagles back to winning ways beginning with the March 21  away games in Kigali against Rwanda, fails to deliver. Nigeria has only three points and has not won a game. Rwanda has seven points, beating Nigeria at home in Uyo. A win for Rwanda again could spell doom.

    The names of the injury-hit Super Eagles players are frightening, leaving Chelle with the unsavoury option of fielding boys who wouldn’t be as experienced as the injured lads. West Bromwich Albion’s Semi Ajayi, was subbed off after 41 minutes of their 2-0 win over Oxford United, with early diagnosis saying that he suffered a relapse of the injury that kept him out since November last year. Ajayi is out. Super Eagles captain and chief motivator who rallies his men to victory, William Troost-Ekong has been sidelined by an undisclosed injury. Ekong was substituted in Al-Khalood’s 0-2 loss to Oruba a week ago and was also missing in action in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Al-Wehda. Perhaps, this is Chelle’s opportunity to find a capable replacement for Ekong who on Tuesday hinted that AFCON 2025 may be his last.

    According to Ekong: “So, it’s hard to find that balance because, during tournaments like that, it’s so intense because there are emotions (people upset, someone sad if he’s not playing, something goes wrong..) so I felt you have to be consistent, or not do it at all.

    “I probably will bring it back for the next one *because it’s probably going to be my last and I also just want to have it for memories and show them to my children,” Ekong stated on Tuesday. Ekong’s resignation call rings so true with a lot of Super Eagles players. I only hope that the oldies in camp emulate Ekong so that Chelle can truly rebuild the team for the good of the beautiful game. Interestingly, A source close to the player revealed that he was back in England over the weekend to celebrate his daughter’s fourth birthday. He is not at risk of a suspension and there was no word about his health status, though.

    Ekong and Ajayi have formed a very reliable central defence pairing just as they have struck an almost impregnable shield for goalkeeper Francis Nwabali. Who are the standby goalkeepers for Chelle? Certainly not Okoye, who has been ruled out of Chelle’s plans due to club inactivity. Indeed, Okoye had allegedly been accused of infringement in betting rules according to his Italian club, Udinese FC. Udinese’s management went further to deregister Okoye, though other news sources have hinted that the Nigerian may, after all, not be guilty. It remains to be seen if Okoye will come out of this mess with the expected clean hands.

    Can we rely on shaky Francis Uzoho? Or would the coach parade two home-based goalkeepers as Nwabali’s deputies? Who are the home-based goalkeepers? Thank God the country’s CHAN side recently completed a campaign in which Nigeria edged out her Ghanaian counterparts. So, the goalkeepers can be drafted to the Super Eagles for Chelle and his other European tacticians to work with and make their independent decisions on which of them can deputise for Nwabali, in the unlikely event he gets injured during the March 21 cracker against Rwanda in Kigali.

    But will Chelle roll the clock backwards to invite Leon Balogun and Kenneth Omeruo? Certainly not. They are in the kind of form that would compel the coach to take the risk with them. The Rwanda encounter is a must-win game, not one to gamble with by fielding half-fit stars.

    Read Also: NAFDAC blacklists India-based pharmaceutical company

    Nottingham Forest’s right-back Ola Aina is easily the best Nigerian in Europe. No prize for guessing right that his place in the all-conquering squad to Kigali on March 21 is secured. The other Nigerian Calvin Bassey, and two domestic league players could form a solid back four to protect goalkeeper Nwabali from conceding cheap goals are Calvin Bassey (Fulham), Igoh Ogbu  (Slavia Prague), Gabriel Osho  (Auxerre), Nduka Junior (Remo Stars) and Onyebuchi Ifeanyi (Enugu Rangers).

    Dear Coach Chelle, if Ekong is ready to play in the Rwanda game he should be fielded, but only after getting a clearance from the team’s medical crew. The Rwandans are very athletic and energetic to last 120 minutes. One only hopes that our players don’t suffer much from the altitude problems in Kigali.

    Watching Wilfred Ndidi play against West Ham on Thursday on television, it was clear that he wasn’t fully fit, as his shots were fickle and unable to trouble the Hammers’ goalkeeper. Ndidi played for the Foxes but his contributions to the team’s play were far and wide apart as the dentition of a centurion.

    Yes, the coach is in big trouble except Ndidi’s form improves in the next 16 days. Otherwise, Chelle would have to rely on Onyeka and Onyedika to function in the holding midfield role with Alex Iwobi being the midfielder spraying defence-splitting passes to the threesome of Ademola Lookman, Victor Osimhen, and Moses Simon. My heart skipped a beat when Fulham’s coach didn’t field the two Nigerians in his team against Wolves in an away game on Wednesday. What crossed my mind was that they might have been injured, since they have been a regular part of the team’s successes this season. Fulham’s coach eased my fears when he revealed on Thursday in a post-match media interview that he knowingly benched them for tactical reasons. I hope so, otherwise we are done for in Kigali.

    The Rwandans are the leaders on the table with seven points and won’t be a stroll in the park, having beaten Nigerians in Uyo in the first leg game 2-1. Our players must roll up their sleeves to fight as if their lives depend on a positive outcome from the game, otherwise, the country’s flag won’t be hoisted among the comity of nations at the 2026 World Cup. The Rwandans are beatable but this feat would only be achieved if everyone associated with the trio to Kigali does theirs optimally.

    It is exactly 20 days to the Rwanda game in Kigali, and the government does not take the issue of the players, coaches, and backroom staff being owed huge sums of money in hard currencies lightly. If there is any form of logistics group from the Presidency to ensure that Nigeria qualifies for the 2026 World Cup, the time for such a group to begin their job is now. It isn’t enough for the team to be flown to Kigali on a charter flight costing the country N200 million, yet not qualified for the 2026 World Cup because we had disgruntled players and coaches angling silently for their entitlements.

    We shouldn’t wait until we have been eliminated from the competition for us to start probing what went wrong. Those who think we can rescue our World Cup dreams from its melancholy should stop at nothing to achieve it. And the time is time is now. Or what do you think, dear reader? You tell me.