Tinubu Takes Action as NFF Resignations Rock Nigerian Football After World Cup Failures
- President Bola Tinubu ordered a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football on Thursday following repeated failures to qualify for global tournaments
- NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the Executive Committee all resigned on the same day
- The Super Falcons and Super Eagles have both failed to qualify for upcoming World Cup tournaments, deepening the crisis in Nigerian football
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President Bola Tinubu has ordered sweeping changes to Nigerian football after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) suffered a wave of resignations and both senior national teams failed to book their places at the next FIFA World Cup.
Tinubu's Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, announced the directive on Thursday, hours after NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the federation's Executive Committee stepped down amid mounting pressure over the declining state of the game in Nigeria.
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The NFF, via its official website, confirmed the mass resignations in a statement, saying Gusau's decision was intended to open the door for "a comprehensive and orderly reform process" to tackle deep-rooted institutional, governance and developmental problems within Nigerian football.
Tinubu blames structural failures for bad results
Tinubu attributed Nigeria's repeated failure to qualify for major regional, continental and global competitions to what he called "structural weaknesses" within the system.
The President drew a contrast with other sports, pointing to progress recorded in those areas after the re-establishment of the National Sports Commission.
"Football, Nigeria's most popular sport and the greatest beneficiary of public support, investment and national attention, has continued to struggle basically due to structural deficits within the system," Tinubu said.
He added that the reform must tackle governance, administration, domestic competitions, development pathways and accountability across the board.
The NFF is also reported to be under investigation by the Department of State Services over the alleged misuse of 17 billion naira, about $12.7 million, received from the federal government in 2024 to settle a backlog of payments owed to players and officials.
National team coaches and players have previously protested publicly over unpaid allowances.
FIFA World Cup absences deepen Nigeria's football crisis
The immediate trigger for the resignations was the Super Falcons' failure to qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup, Al Jazeera reports.
The 10-time Women's Africa Cup of Nations winners were eliminated in the quarterfinals of this year's continental tournament and subsequently lost 2-1 to South Africa in a World Cup playoff.
Nigeria will now miss the Women's World Cup for the first time since the tournament began in 1991.
The men's team, the Super Eagles, have also failed to qualify for the last two editions of the FIFA World Cup, underlining how far one of Africa's historically strongest football nations has fallen in recent years.
NFF president and board resign
Earlier, Legit.ng reported about the resignation of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Ibrahim Gusau, who stepped down amid mounting pressures following the national teams' failure to qualify for major tournaments.
This dramatic turn of events follows a troubling report detailing serious governance issues within the NFF, raising urgent questions about the future of Nigerian football.
Source: Legit.ng
