Former soccer star, Austin Popo, says the non- qualification of the Super Eagles for the 2026 FIFA World Cup goes beyond the interpretation that some people are giving it.
Speaking in a chat about the real issues that caused the Super Eagles failure, Popo asserted that Nigeria’s inability to effectively process the activities of the various components that form the football pyramid structure in a professional manner contributed to the setback.
Analysing the football pyramid structure, he cited the issue of transition from performance potential to performance realization and removing youth football development from education experience.
He advocated for the amendment of the NFF statues to provide for the NFF technical director as chairman of the NFF technical committee, with only professional high quality coaches and former players as members.
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On the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Popo affirmed that “when he came on board, he observed a lack of unity among key football stakeholders, a situation inherited from the previous administration.
“He made every effort to unite all football stakeholders through personal visits and dialogue, seeking to understand the underlying challenges and how to foster unity, believing that thorough football development cannot thrive in a chaotic football family.
“Gusau began his engagement by convening the players’ unions in several meetings: including the appointment of former Deputy Governor of Edo State, currently Director General of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Philip Shaibu, as chairman of the reconciliation committee.”
On infrastructural development, he stated that for the first time in the history of Nigeria football, a players’ hostel with two pitches is under construction at the NFF headquarters for the camping of the national teams, to save cost of the huge amount of money being spent for camping our national teams in hotels.
This, he added will no doubt help to generate revenue for the NFF.
