Former captain of the Nigerian senior team, Austine Okocha, has dealt another blow to the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) saying that Nigerian football will not see any progress under the current council, reports OwnGoalNigeria.com.
In an interview with The Guardian, the famous Super Eagles number 10 gave his reasons citing the incompetence of the current NFF board led by Ibrahim Musa Gusau as the reason why the Super Eagles will not be successful until they have gone.
“The Super Eagles will not be able to win any trophies until the current NFF officials are disbanded or reformed,” he said. “Appoint new officials who know more about football, who have an interest in football, who love football, whose lifestyles represent football.
“Politicians cannot be appointed to manage football. They will turn it into politics and that is what is happening today. “We have the best players in the world, but we don’t have any trophies within our reach, not because of the players, at all,” he said.
He went further to say he will not apologize for his criticism of Eric Chelle’s appointment as coach of the Super Eagles, saying his appointment will hurt the team in their quest to be in the 2026 World Cup.
“When you change a coach, you have changed a dream, a vision and a mission, in short, you have changed a generation.
“The change of coach is not something that is heard in the ear. It is harmful for the players, they will lose concentration, except the players who demand a better coach. Before you think about changing coaches, get some key players and interview them, ask for their opinion because most of the players’ performance is based on the good relationship they share with their coach,” he said.
Okocha further stressed that he will in no way apologize for his call to reform the NFF because he only stated the obvious as a stakeholder in Nigerian football.
“If his decision takes me to court, so be it. “We cannot remain silent while things continue to deteriorate.
“I have received a series of messages apologizing to NFF and my question is, ‘for what? For demanding a better committee? No, I can’t apologize if I just formed my personal opinion. Don’t we have the right to freedom of expression again in Nigeria?
“Football is the only tie that keeps Nigeria as one. It is our only source of joy. If you politicize it, what will be our hope tomorrow? We must be free and allowed to express our opinions.”
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman