Dare to NFF: Provide explanation on our ‘dismal’ outings in four major competitions

Sunday Dare, minister of youth and sports development, has demanded a written explanation from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over the “dismal” exit of the country’s teams from four football tournaments.

Dare spoke on Monday during a meeting with the members of the NFF board.

The board members present at the meeting with the minister include Amaju Pinnick (president), Mohammed Sanusi (secretary general), Seyi Akinwunmi (1st vice-president), Shehu Dikko (2nd vice-president).

Others are Ibrahim Gusau (chairman of chairmen), and Rabiu Inuwa Ahlan (chairman, referee committee).

The home-based Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2020 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) slated for January in Cameroon.

The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria, five-time world champions, failed to go beyond the round of 16 at the just concluded U17 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The Olympic Eagles also could not go beyond the group stage at U23 Africa Cup of Nations for them to pick the ticket for Tokyo 2020.

In October, Cote D’Ivoire denied Super Falcons the opportunity of picking the ticket for the Olympics, making it a third consecutive non appearance for the 9-time African champions at the perennial summer games.

During the nearly 30-minute meeting, the minister directed the NFF to “provide the federal government with written explanation on the developments of our teams failing in four major tournaments”.

“From stock taking. It is now time to render account to Nigerians,” Dare said.

The NFF secretariat particularly came under intense scrutiny for the technical failings of the board.

“We need to run a reality check. Nigerians are not happy with our state of football. We must start with the football administration,” he said.

“Nigerians want to see us working proactively to get things working again.

“I am not saying we should win at all cost, beyond identifying various issues what do we need to do to deal with these issues.

“The board has a responsibility. I am asking the board to do surgical examinations of what has gone wrong with our football.”

The minister also demanded for the nominal roll of the NFF as it was revealed that the federation has continued to pay some people with expired contracts.

He said the ministry’s concern goes beyond the dismal performance but is also about the domestic league.