…After stunning World Cup failures, NFF boss resigns, urges board members to quit—President demands accountability
By Orkula Shaagee
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive overhaul of Nigerian football following years of disappointing results and repeated failures by the country’s national teams to qualify for major international tournaments, as Ibrahim Gusau resigned as President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and urged willing members of his executive committee to follow him out.
The dramatic developments on Thursday signalled the beginning of potentially far-reaching changes in the administration of Nigeria’s most popular sport, with the Presidency identifying structural weaknesses in governance, administration, stakeholder representation, player development, domestic competitions, and accountability as problems that must now be addressed.
Gusau, who had spent three years and 11 months at the helm of the NFF, announced his resignation at a news conference in Abuja, saying he had taken the decision after consultations with his family and friends and out of love for Nigeria and commitment to football development.
His departure comes against the backdrop of a damaging run of qualification failures across Nigeria’s national teams, including the Super Eagles missing the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cups.
The Super Falcons also failed to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, while the Golden Eaglets have missed the FIFA U-17 World Cup for three consecutive editions.
Hours after Gusau’s exit, Tinubu directed that the problems confronting Nigerian football should no longer be addressed piecemeal, ordering a broad reform of the system.
“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions, and accountability across Nigerian football,” the President said.
Tinubu said football had continued to underperform despite the enormous public support, investment, and national attention devoted to the sport.
According to the President, the contrast had become more striking because other sports were beginning to make progress following the reset of the sports sector under the re-established 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 maintained that Nigeria possesses the talent, passion, and resources required to succeed internationally, but those advantages must now be matched by strong institutions, better administration, and sustained performance.
The President consequently directed the Chairman of the National Sports Commission to work with the NFF Secretariat and relevant football stakeholders to maintain continuity in essential football administration while facilitating a broad and consultative reform process.
The restructuring is expected to involve engagement with the world football governing body FIFA and the Confederation of African Football, CAF, as the government seeks to ensure that the changes remain consistent with Nigeria’s international football obligations.
The Presidency’s emphasis on engagement with FIFA and CAF is significant given the world football body’s strict rules against undue government interference in the administration of national football federations.
Tinubu called on football stakeholders and Nigerians to support the transition, saying the objective was to establish a stronger, more accountable, and successful football system.
The presidential intervention followed Gusau’s confirmation that he was leaving the federation amid mounting questions about the state of Nigerian football.
“I have decided to resign my position as the President of NFF, after consultations with my family and friends,” Gusau said.
“I have also advised my board members, those who are willing, to resign as well.”
The former NFF president could not immediately confirm how many executive committee members had decided to leave with him, saying those considering resignation had yet to formally communicate their decisions.
His exit effectively closes a tenure dominated by contrasting fortunes for the country’s national teams and continuing debate over the administration and development of football.
Despite the qualification failures, Gusau defended aspects of his record, pointing to improvements in coaching education, domestic league administration, refereeing, and infrastructure.
He said his administration conducted CAF B Licence and CAF C Licence programmes as well as a Coaching Instructors’ Course, with a CAF A Licence programme scheduled to begin on September 16.
Gusau also said his board had worked to stabilise Nigeria’s domestic leagues after inheriting significant administrative challenges.
Refereeing, he said, was another area in which his administration attempted to rebuild Nigeria’s international standing.
According to him, the federation inherited a situation in which Nigerian referees had limited representation at major continental and international competitions, prompting the NFF to identify younger officials and expose them to training and development programmes.
“Today, we are beginning to see the results,” Gusau said.
“At the last Under-17 World Cup and the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, Nigerian referees were among the officials and even handled some of the semi-final matches.”
He expressed confidence that sustained investment in young referees would eventually restore Nigeria’s representation at the highest levels of international football officiating.
Gusau also identified inadequate infrastructure as one of the biggest structural problems confronting the sport.
He said his administration had sought to use funds available through FIFA development programmes to address infrastructure deficiencies, including the absence of permanent accommodation and training facilities for national teams.
“As a board, we sat down and identified infrastructure as one of our greatest needs,” he said.
“We also recognised the need for permanent accommodation and training facilities for our national teams, and we are currently working on that.
“I believe history will judge us on this, and Nigerians will remember that we played our part in addressing the infrastructure challenge.”
Gusau said his resignation would not mark the end of his involvement in football, promising to make his experience and relationships across African football available whenever they were required.
“For me, I want to make it clear that, by the grace of God, we will continue to give our contribution.
“Our experience, connections and relationships within African football will never go in vain.
“We will do our best to ensure that whenever we are needed, we will contribute to the progress of Nigerian football,” he said.
The President’s reform order, however, shifts attention from the performance of individual administrators to the structure of Nigerian football itself.
The government is expected to examine how the NFF is governed, the representation of football stakeholders in decision-making, the development of players from grassroots and age-grade football into senior teams, the organisation and commercial viability of domestic competitions and mechanisms for accountability within the football establishment.
The scale of the challenge is underscored by Nigeria’s recent international record.
The failure to reach consecutive men’s World Cups represents a particularly painful setback for a country that had previously become a regular presence at football’s biggest tournament, while difficulties at women’s and youth levels have reinforced concerns that the problems extend beyond the Super Eagles.
Tinubu’s directive sets the stage for what could become the most extensive restructuring of Nigerian football administration in years.
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