Tinubu Orders Overhaul of Nigerian Football After Tournament Failures

 

ABUJA: President directs sports commission, NFF and stakeholders to review governance, competitions and development pathways

By Okwo Romeon

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football, citing repeated failures to qualify for major regional, continental and global tournaments and what he described as longstanding structural weaknesses within the sport.

The President has directed the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) to work with the secretariat of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and other stakeholders to develop a broad reform process covering the administration, governance and development of football in the country.

President Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR 
Nigeria leader.

The directive, announced by the State House on Thursday, comes amid continuing concerns over the performance and management of Nigerian football, despite the country's substantial pool of playing talent and the sport's strong public following.

Tinubu said the proposed reform should address governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across the football 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.

He argued that football had not kept pace with progress recorded in other areas of Nigerian sport since the restructuring 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.

The President's intervention follows a period in which Nigerian football has faced scrutiny over the performance of its national teams, the administration of domestic competitions and broader questions surrounding the development of players and the management of football institutions.

Tinubu said Nigeria needed to build institutions capable of matching the country's “exceptional talent, passion and resources” with sustained sporting performance.

Under the directive, the NSC chairman is expected to coordinate with the NFF secretariat and relevant stakeholders to maintain continuity in essential football administration while facilitating what the presidency described as a broad and consultative reform process.

The process is also expected to involve engagement with the international governing bodies, FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with the presidency stressing that Nigeria's obligations under the international football framework must be preserved.

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The reference to FIFA and CAF is significant because national football associations are expected to operate independently of political interference under the international football system. Any restructuring of the administration of the game will therefore have to take account of Nigeria's existing institutional and international commitments.

The presidency did not immediately provide a timetable for the proposed reforms or specify whether changes to the leadership or structure of the NFF are envisaged.

It also did not disclose details of the proposed funding arrangements or identify specific domestic competitions and development programmes that would be affected.

Tinubu called on football administrators, players, supporters and other stakeholders to support the transition and participate in efforts to establish what he described as a stronger, more accountable and successful football system.

The reform directive places Nigeria's football administration at the centre of a fresh attempt to address the gap between the country's longstanding reputation for producing talented players and the inconsistent results of its national teams and domestic football structures.

The presidency said the objective was to create a system capable of delivering stronger governance and more sustainable development across Nigerian football.