Ministry tasks NFF on September general elections, revamp of national league

President of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick PHOTO: Reuter

Orders appointment of coaches for home-based Eagles, others

The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has charged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to set up machinery for the Federation’s general elections, which are expected to hold in September this year.

The ministry has also directed the NFF to set up a three-man technical crew for the home-based Eagles and invite 30 players to the team to start preparations for upcoming competitions.

Rising from a meeting with the NFF and representatives of the Presidency following the country’s failure to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, expressed his determination to overhaul the country’s football ecosystem.

According to a source, who pleaded anonymity, the meeting took an interim report and review of the failure to qualify for the World Cup, after which it deliberated on steps that would urgently reposition Nigerian football and rescue it from its current state from the grassroots, the leagues to the national teams.

One of such steps is the immediate restructuring of the local league, with the ministry insisting that the Super Eagles’ inability to qualify for the World Cup was a manifestation of the failure of the league to produce players for the national team, the source disclosed, adding that the minister requested for an immediate status report on the league after which he would take further actions.

The source, who was part of the meeting, added: “The meeting agreed to search, set up and announce a three-man technical team of Nigerian coaches to handle the home-based team.

“Select and invite 30 players from the Nigerian league to camp immediately with the