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Former Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has given the clearest indication that he will return to the country not as a player but as an administrator to help “improve” the game.
Ekong, who ended his international career in 2025, has suggested he will consider competing for a spot in the NFF and has called on former players to get involved.
Without a doubt, Nigerian football has been besieged by a multitude of problems, the result of which, among other things, has been a crippling financial crisis, accusations of corruption and poor standards in the management of teams and even within the organization itself.
Ekong stressed that Nigeria could do better in sport and insists it wants to be part of the “solution”.
“What I would love to do now and the way I am preparing this part of my career is to try to find ways in which I can be part of the solution to see Nigeria reach and reach greater heights than we had reached when I was a player. “That has been my focus.
Former players must do more
He acknowledged the role of former players in the pursuit of excellence within the game, but maintains that only by obtaining the right education and additional experience as a player can impactful changes be brought about in Nigerian football.
“I think for me now it’s the educational part, because we have a lot of former players who have a great knowledge of the game.
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He continued: “I don’t think we’ve seen enough former players involved from the top.
“For me, in Nigerian football, it is about finding ways to collaborate and improve the federation because we have been there, we have seen it and the generations before me have done it.”
William Troost-Ekong’s international career spanned a decade in which he participated in the 2016 Olympic Games, the 2018 World Cup and two AFCON tournaments, including the 2023 edition where he led Nigeria to second place and was named Player of the Tournament.
He debuted for the Super Eagles in 2015, earning 83 caps and setting the record for most goals scored by a centre-half (5) in AFCON history.
