Resign if Eagles fail to qualify, Sports Editors’ guild tells NFF board, Finidi

The Guild of Sports Editors, yesterday, told the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that they must be ready to resign from the body if they fail to guide the Super Eagles to the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The body, which comprises all the managers of sports departments in the country’s major media organisations, said it viewed with dismay the poor performance of the Super Eagles in the ongoing qualifying series for the World Cup, adding that it is unacceptable that Nigeria is struggling in fifth position in a group that comprises Lesotho, Rwanda, Benin Republic, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Rising from a meeting yesterday, the Guild said that although the situation in Group C looks irredeemable after four games, Nigeria could still qualify for the World Cup if the NFF puts its house in order.

In a communiqué signed by its president, Mr Tony Ubani, the Guild said: “We are shocked by the manner Nigeria’s bid to return to the World Cup after missing the 2022 edition is being mismanaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) through wrong and belated decisions and inability to set the rules for the national team.

“The NFF waited until just a month to the resumption of the qualifiers before naming a coach through a process flawed by many stakeholders because it did not follow due process.”

“They kept quiet when some of the members of the new technical crew rejected their appointments; they have not shown leadership even when some of the players rejected invitation to the national team.

“Now is not the time to apportion blames, but the NFF must know that Nigerians cannot tolerate failure to qualify for the World Cup, especially now that Africa’s slot has been increased to nine