The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)

  • NFF wants Age-grade teams to concentrate on developmental programmes

    NFF wants Age-grade teams to concentrate on developmental programmes

    ….Falconets recount hardship in Papua New Guinea

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has insisted that the Glass House has been able to manage the economic meltdown within the sports circles. The President, Amaju Pinnick explained the funds constraints by some age grade teams like the Falconets.

    Sequel to reports of untold hardship experienced by the Falconets during their sojourn to Papua New Guinea for the FIFA U-20 Women’s Championship, the NFF President opined that teams like Falconets should concentrate more on developing themselves rather than expecting huge financial rewards from the NFF.

    He said: “I didn’t want to speak on this issue, but when you call the Falconets, you ask, how old they are? If you are in the media you should preach that these young girls should concentrate more on their football rather than go to the media and talk about money. If Oshoala kept complaining about money, she won’t be where she is today. And people should always realise that whatever we do, the Federation is just a platform for you to excel and go to a club which is the biggest and the best. And that is just the truth.”

    Pinnick added: “Sports is all about money and the truth is that Nigeria is going through recession. I want you to name one sector of the economy that is doing very well because there is recession but give and take, we still give ourselves a pat on the back, we are almost in the World Cup, we won the only medal in the Olympics, we made our presence in Jordan, in Papau New Guinea. I don’t think we have done badly in spite of the challenges. We have a lot of distractions and challenges in finance, if you were the NFF President what would you do?”

  • I’m not aware NFF engaged foreign coach- Dalung

    I’m not aware NFF engaged foreign coach- Dalung

    *Faults NFF’s treatment to Siasia

    *Dalung: Nigeria still need Siasia

    The Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, on Tuesday declared that he was not officially aware of the appointment of a new foreign coach for the Super Eagles by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    ‎‎Despite Dalung’s preference for a local coach, the NFF had few weeks back selected a German, Gernot Rohr, to manage the Super Eagles.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the nation’s outing at the ‎just concluded Olympics in Rio, Brazil, Dalung said that he wished the new coach the best of luck even though NFF has not informed him of Rohr’s appointment.

    According to him, he begged the President to host the Nigerian contingent to the Olympics Games in Rio, Brazil, despite winning only one bronze medal in football and coming 78th on the medals table.

    He said that Coach ‎Samson Siasia that handled the football team that won the bronze medal at the Olympics, has not resigned as been speculated in the media even though his contract with the NFF had lapsed.

    The Minister also faulted the treatment by NFF to Siasia, which withdrew his official car in Abuja while struggling to secure a medal for the country in Rio.

    Nigeria, he said, still needed Siasia for football development, as he pushed for his engagement on personal capacity if the NFF would not re-engage him.

    He said that it would be sad to have someone like Siasia leave Nigeria to go and represent another country out of frustration, just like many athletes did at the Rio Olympics.

    Dalung also exonerated  Siasia and his team over the $390, 000 donation by a Japanese surgeon.

    After meeting the donor in Rio, the Minister said that he was convinced there were no strings attached to the donation like match-fixing.

    He however attributed the abysmal outing of the Nigerian Olympic contingent to late release of funds and inability to develop home-grown talents, noting that many athletes in the continent that performed relatively better were home-trained.

    He pointed out that it was time to revisit the basic architecture of sports in the country, stressing that “we need to go back to grassroots” and groom talents for future competitions.

    Replying his critics, he said, that he was not the problem of Nigerian sports as abysmal performance predates his appointment.

    According to him, the National Sports Commission (NSC) was necessary but was unfortunately scrapped by a government committee that recommended merger of ministries.‎

  • No alternative to Buhari-led administration – Lai Mohammed

    No alternative to Buhari-led administration – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said that the President Mohammadu Buhari-led administration is on the right track and there is no alternative to what it is doing.

    The minister stated this at a meeting with the members of staff of the Nigerian Embassy in Madrid, Spain.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was on the sideline of the minister’s two-day official visit to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

    “I believe that we are on the right track, there will be some pains, but there is no alternative to what we are doing,” he said.

    Mohammed said that the administration had fulfilled its campaign promises to address insecurity, fix the economy and fight corruption.

    In the area of security, the minister said that when Buhari came on board, 14 of the 20 Local Government Areas of Borno, four in Adamawa and three in Yobe were under the sovereign authority of Boko Haram.

    He said that with proactive measures and soft diplomacy with neighbouring African countries, the U.S., France and the G-8 had helped the country to “decisively deal with Book Haram’’.

    “Today, all the major highways leading to Maiduguri are opened and about two months ago, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) played a league match in Maiduguri stadium,” he said.

    On the renewed agitations in the Niger-Delta region and parts of the South-East, the minister reassured that the government would not marginalise any part of the country, and assured that economic development would go round to everyone.

    According to the minister, the present administration is implementing fiscal discipline and other measures to address the messed up economy it inherited from its predecessors.

    He said with the temporarily painful measures, the government would turn around the adversity to gains and ensure that never again would the nation run a corrupt, clueless and an oil-dependent economy.

    The minister said that the administration had been unfairly accused of placing too much emphasis on the fight against corruption at the expense of addressing fundamental economic issues.

    He stressed that no amount of economic reforms put in place could work unless the “monster of corruption is successfully dealt with’’.

    Mohammed clarified that the administration’s fight against corruption was not selective, and that the government was not probing the 2015 elections campaign funds of the People’s Democratic Party.

    He assured that that the government would continue to remain focus in its efforts to rebuild the country.

    The Minister Consular of the embassy, Mr Sola Akinlude, who conducted the minister round the embassy, said that the official population of Nigerians resident n Spain was about 100,000.

  • Izilein warns against appointing foreign coach

    Izilein warns against appointing foreign coach

    A former coach of the Super Falcons, Godwin Izilein, on Wednesday in Benin warned against appointing a foreign coach for the Super Eagles for now.

    Izilein told the newsmen that the senior national male football team may not qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia as a result of this.

    “This is because the foreign handler will not have quality time to know the players and their mentality,’’ he said.

    Izilein, also a former coach of the Golden Eaglets, said appointing a foreign coach was equally an unnecessary waste of fund and shows lack of respect for Nigerian coaches.

    “I don’t know what this rush for a foreign coach is all about, when we do not have time on our hands for the qualification games for Russia 2018.

    “The national football authorities must understand that a coach who knows his onions needs not less than a year to know the players and their mentality.

    “He will then need also another year to put a good team in place.

    “And, again, I consider the amount that will be wasted on hiring a foreign coach as unnecessary, especially against the background of the consistent lamentation of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) of paucity of funds.

    “It also shows lack of respect for Nigerian coaches because I believe that we have quality coaches with high technical ability to manage the Eagles well and even ensure their qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

    “Should they (NFF) be in doubt of the abilities of a particular coach, I will suggest that NFF engages the best three to four indigenous coaches to handle affairs of the team.

    “This suggestion is based on the fact that the three coaches cannot all make mistakes at the same time. Where one is deficient, the other will come in handy,’’ he said.

    Izilein added that what the indigenous coaches needed to perform optimally was an environment devoid of any undue interference and the right motivation.

    “If you provide for the indigenous coach the same environment and motivation provided for the foreign one, he will definitely perform,’’ he said.

     

     

  • Eagles: Sponsor ‘develops cold feet’ over foreign coach

    Eagles: Sponsor ‘develops cold feet’ over foreign coach

    There are indications that Nigeria may be forced to settle for a local coach for the Super Eagles next month after a proposed company to foot the bills of an expatriate handler “developed cold feet”.

    According to AfricanFootball.com, it was gathered that the recent leadership tussle in Nigerian football may have thrown the oil company off forking out close to $2 million spread over two years for the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to hire a top-rated foreign coach.

    “The oil company was ready to give the NFF close to $100,000 a month to take care of a top foreign coach and his assistants, but since the latest round of instability in the Nigerian football polity, the company has developed cold feet,” a top source told AfricanFootball.com.

    “The NFF on their own do not have the cash to pay for such a coach and the government through the sports minister has made it very clear it will not pay for a foreign coach.

    “That could well have informed the NFF recent announcement that the vacant Super Eagles top post will be taken up by the best candidate whether he is local or foreign.”

    Sunday Oliseh quit the post in February for Samson Siasia to take temporary charge of the Eagles for the AFCON 2017 qualifiers against Egypt in March.

    Former Kano Pillars and Enyimba coach Salisu Yusuf will be in interim charge for two friendlies against Mali on May 27 and Luxembourg on June 1.

    The NFF has disclosed a new Eagles coach will be named next month after shortlisted candidates are be interviewed. 

  • Nigeria national league to kick off on May 7

    Nigeria national league to kick off on May 7

     

     

    The ad hoc committee overseeing the Nigeria National League (NNL) on Wednesday in Abuja said the league’s 2015/2016 season would kick off on May 7.

    The league body’s ad hoc committee also informed club officials and other stakeholders at the league’s congress that the season would be in an abridged format.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the abridged format will have eight clubs each in four groups.

    In the draws held to group the clubs, Kaduna United, Sokoto United and Kogi United and five others are in Group A1 in the new format.

    Group A2 has Kwara United, FC Taraba and Gombe United, which are all former NPFL club sides which were relegated at the end of the last season.

    Group B1 has, among others, Rivers State FA Cup champions Go Round FC, Remo Stars and Delta Force FC.

    ABS FC, Gateway FC, Bayelsa United FC and Prime FC of Oshogbo are part of Group B2 setting.

    Speaking at the event, Chairman of the NNL Ad-hoc Committee, Seyi Akinwunmi, said the committee had to settle for the abridged league format because of time constraints.

    “Time has already been wasted and we aim to have a league that will be successful and productive,’’ the First Vice-President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said.

    He said he was sure the league would be concluded in good time, barring any last-minute change to the proposed kick-off date.

    NAN reports that winners in all four groups will automatically pick the qualification tickets to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

    GROUP A1

    Sokoto United
    Kaduna United
    Kogi United
    Shekarau Babes
    Katsina United
    FC Yarmalight
    Mighty Jets
    Jigawa Stars

    GROUP A2

    Adamawa United
    Kwara United
    FC Taraba
    Wikki Feeders
    Supreme Court
    FC Zamfara
    Dreams FC
    Gombe United

    GROUP B1

    Remo Stars
    COD United
    Delta Force
    Go Round
    Unicem Rovers
    Sharks FC
    Akwa Starlets
    Abia Comets

    GROUP B2

    ABS FC
    Crown FC
    Prime FC
    J. Atete FC
    Bayelsa United
    First Bank
    Gateway United
    Bendel Insurance

     

  • Siasia mother’s kidnap: Family decries neglect

    Siasia mother’s kidnap: Family decries neglect

    • Pleads for coach to focus on national assignment

    Ten days after gunmen kidnapped Madam Ogere Siasia, mother of ex-international and current coach of the Nigeria Under 23 national team, Dream Team IV, Samson Siasia, at Odoni Community of Sagama Local Council in Bayelsa State, the family is yet to meet up with the demand of the kidnappers while they plead with the government not to abandon the family in its trying period.

    According to a sibling of the coach, Dennis Siasia, the family is yet to hear from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Bayelsa State Government as well as the Federal Government on the fate of their mother as the kidnappers insist on a N60m ransom.

    Contacted by NationSport, Dennis said: “It is disheartening that the NFF has not deemed it fit to get in touch with the family since the incident happened last week. They were only talking to Samson, who is far away in Gambia for national assignment, and, for us, we think this is not the appropriate thing to do as this might distract the coach from doing his job. For now, it is only the family they are supposed to have contacted because the coach is not here and they just need to leave him to focus on his duty because if the team fails to qualify they will blame him.

    “The last time we spoke to the kidnappers was on Saturday, when they said they would bury Mama if we failed to meet their demand and we told them that we don’t have the kind of money they are requesting for as we were only able to raise N600, 000, from their voice, they were angry. As at this morning (Tuesday) they have not called and we have not heard from them. Although we spoke to Mama and I think she is okay.”

    The younger Siasia, however, acknowledged the efforts of the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police and the Director of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) since the incident occurred. “I must tell you that the CP and DSS Director have been working with the family on this and this has been how far we had gone. I must let them realise that Samson has served this country as a player, and now he is a coach on national assignment in Gambia and I don’t think he needs any distraction for now in Gambia.”

    Last Monday, three gunmen abducted Mrs Ogere Siasia at their family house in Bayelsa and whisked her away on a motorcycle.

  • Eagles to support global campaign against malaria

    Eagles to support global campaign against malaria

    Name Late Oliha as Anti-Malaria Ambassador

    Nigeria’s Super Eagles this Saturday, will join thousands of people campaigning against malaria scourge across the world.

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced on Tuesday that it will use the crucial game against the Flames in Calabar to support the campaign against the Maleria which claims millions of lives all over the world yearly.

    The football players for the two teams will carry several banners, 15 minutes before the match kicks off, to create awareness about the dangers posed by the tropical disease.

    The NFF President, Aminu Maigari, endorsed the anti-malaria campaign after a visit to that country by a non-governmental organization, Global Dream, which is in the vanguard of sensitizing the world to the dangers of malaria, through the use of mosquito nets.

    Flames players to help support the anti maleria campaign

    Malaria remains a health burden and in Malawi it is the major health problem despite the country having a strong collective effort to mitigate the burden.

    Maigari, alongside Nigeria’s First Lady Patience Jonathan, penned a register, which would be sent to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, on April 25, 2014, to support the campaign.

    About 12 million mosquito nets will be donated by Global Dream to the Super Eagles, whose legendary striker, Thompson Oliha died recently due to malaria related complications. The Super Eagles would also be conferred with Anti Malaria Ambassadorial status.