NFF: Gusau, board members, Sanusi leave football home after mass resignation

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, and the general secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, resigned on Thursday, in the wake of a wave of national disenchantment over recent poor performances by national teams.

It is learned that all members of the NFF executive committee have also thrown in the towel.

Gusau’s resignation comes 34 days before the end of his four-year term.

He was elected President of the NFF at the Nigerian Football Annual General Meeting held in Benin City, Edo State on 30 September 2022.

He said his resignation followed consultations with his family, friends and stakeholders within the football community.

He adds that he has communicated his decision to the members of the Executive Committee.

Furthermore, Gusau confirmed that the decision to resign was taken after careful consideration and in the primary interest of Nigerian football.

“My resignation is intended to make way for a comprehensive and orderly reform process aimed at addressing the long-standing institutional, governance and development challenges facing Nigerian football,” he said.

At a press conference inside the NFF Secretariat, Abuja, Gusau, who also served as Chairman of WAFU B, said he would leave office with a sense of satisfaction at what his administration had been able to achieve during his tenure.

He highlighted the renewed and vigorous focus on coach training, highlighting that coaching courses have been run across virtually all licensing categories, with the long-awaited CAF A-License course starting on 13 September.

He also highlighted improved stability in the national league calendar, advancements in the refereeing sector and infrastructure in the form of a 68-room players hostel and new training pitches at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, not forgetting the Super Eagles’ silver and bronze medals in the last two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the Super Falcons’ WAFCON triumph in Morocco in 2025.

The Zamfara State-born administrator had to retire following new lows in the results of some national teams, the most recent and poignant being the failure of the senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, to reach the finals of the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

This, the first absence for Nigeria since the competition was launched in China 35 years ago, was preceded by the Super Eagles’ failure to reach the finals of the 48-team FIFA World Cup held in the United States, Canada and Mexico in the summer, and on the sidelines of the U20s’ failure to qualify for next year’s U20 Africa Cup of Nations.