- Tinubu Orders Comprehensive Reform After Repeated Tournament Failures
- Calls For Stakeholders’ Support To Build Stronger, Transparent, Accountable Football System
- Gusau, Sanusi Resign As NFF President, General Secretary
The Federal Government has moved to confront the deepening crisis in Nigerian football, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordering a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s football administration after a string of disappointing performances and failures to qualify for major international tournaments.
TheMatrix Newspaper reports that Nigeria’s football crisis has spread far beyond the Super Eagles, with the country suffering a succession of painful failures across the senior and youth national teams.
The latest setbacks have strengthened the argument that the problem is no longer an isolated coaching or player issue, but a deeper structural crisis.
The most devastating blow came with the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the recently concluded 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Nigeria finished behind South Africa in their qualifying group and were forced into the African play-offs. They defeated Gabon 4-1 after extra time in the semi-final but crashed out in the final against DR Congo after a 1-1 draw was decided by a 4-3 penalty shootout.
It means Nigeria missed successive World Cups, having also failed to qualify for Qatar 2022. The 2026 failure was particularly painful because the tournament was expanded to 48 teams, providing Africa with more qualification places.
The qualifying campaign was dogged by inconsistency and off-field turbulence. Nigeria managed only four wins in 10 qualifying matches, while managerial changes and a dispute over unpaid allowances even led players and technical staff to boycott training shortly before the play-off semi-final.
Super Falcons Suffer Historic World Cup Blow
The women’s national team, the Super Falcons, subsequently delivered another stunning blow to Nigeria’s football reputation.
After qualifying for every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the competition began in 1991, the Falcons lost 2-1 to South Africa in the qualification play-off, ending their unprecedented run of appearances.
The failure was particularly shocking because Nigeria had long been regarded as the dominant force in African women’s football. The setback came shortly after the Falcons’ disappointing 2026 WAFCON campaign, where they failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time.
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) subsequently established a fact-finding committee to investigate the poor performances, with particular attention on the Falcons’ World Cup failure.
Golden Eaglets’ Collapse At U-17 Level
The crisis becomes even more alarming at youth level.
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, historically one of the most successful teams in world youth football, have missed the 2023 and 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cups, and also failed to qualify for the 2026 edition.
That is a dramatic fall for a team that has won the FIFA U-17 World Cup a record five times.
The Eaglets’ repeated failures have raised serious questions about Nigeria’s grassroots development pipeline, especially because the U-17 competition is traditionally regarded as the foundation for producing the next generation of Super Eagles stars.
Flying Eagles’ Latest Setback
The Flying Eagles have also suffered major setbacks, although their record is more mixed.
Nigeria missed the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, but qualified for the 2025 edition in Chile after reaching the semi-finals of the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
However, the team subsequently suffered another major blow by losing 4-1 to Burkina Faso in the 2026 WAFU-B U-20 final. The defeat left Nigeria facing failure to qualify for the 2027 U-20 AFCON and, consequently, the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Nigeria has therefore gone from being a country whose football teams were almost permanent fixtures at major global tournaments to one battling qualification crises across several levels.
Consequently, the presidential intervention is expected to trigger a far-reaching review of how football is governed, administered and developed in Nigeria, with the NFF and other stakeholders now facing renewed pressure to fix what the Presidency described as longstanding structural weaknesses.
Tinubu, in a directive announced by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Nigeria could no longer afford to have its most popular sport weighed down by institutional shortcomings.
“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,” the President said.
The President’s intervention comes as frustration continues to mount over Nigeria’s inability to consistently convert its huge football talent, passionate fan base and substantial public attention into sustained success on the continental and global stage.
Tinubu declared that the time had come to overhaul the system and ensure that Nigeria’s football institutions matched the enormous potential available to the country.
“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football,” he said.
FG Targets Football’s Structural Fault Lines
Under the presidential directive, the Chairman of the National Sports Commission is to work closely with the NFF Secretariat and relevant football stakeholders to maintain continuity in essential football administration while beginning a broad-based and consultative reform process.
The move effectively places football administration under renewed federal scrutiny, with governance, accountability, stakeholder representation, grassroots development and domestic competitions expected to come under the microscope.
Tinubu noted that other sports had recorded meaningful progress following the reset of the sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission, but said football had continued to lag because of structural deficiencies.
The President’s position represents a sharp call for Nigerian football to move beyond crisis management and establish institutions capable of producing consistent results.
FIFA, CAF Engagement Looms
The reform process is also expected to involve consultations with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), while ensuring that Nigeria remains compliant with its obligations under the international football framework.
The Presidency stressed the need for stakeholders to support the transition and work collectively towards building a football system that is stronger, more transparent and accountable.
Earlier, the President of the NFF, Ibrahim Gusau, announced his resignation from office.
He made the announcement during a press conference at the NFF Glass House in Abuja on Thursday.
Addressing the press, Gusau said he decided to step aside to give other Nigerians the opportunity to contribute to the development of football in the country.
He maintained that despite the failure of the federation’s men’s and women’s teams to qualify for the World Cups, he was leaving the NFF in a better position than he found it.
Gusau also disclosed that he had advised members of his board to resign, but said he was not aware of any board member who had so far stepped down.
“I just want to tell you that I decided to resign my position as the NFF President. I informed my board members and advised them that anybody who wants to follow me to also resign, but as I am talking to you I cannot tell you who and who or how many board members that have resigned,” he said.
Gusau said he would continue to contribute to the development of football in Nigeria, pledging to make his experience and connections within African football available whenever the country needs them.
“By the grace of God I hope I can continue to give my contributions because the experience and relationship we have within the African football, we will never allow it to go in vain. Whenever we need to give our contributions we will come here and give our contributions for the progress of the Nigerian people.”
Also earlier in the day, the NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, also addressed members of the federation’s secretariat, where he announced his resignation.
For the NFF and the wider football establishment, the directive could mark the beginning of a new era of scrutiny.
