Following the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Guild of Sports Editors, the umbrella body of managers of sports in the country’s major media organisations, has advised members of the executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to resign from their positions honourably and give the game chance to breathe.
The editors said the board members would be doing the nation great injustice if they continued to misdirect Nigerian football after last Tuesday’s misadventure.
- How NRC ignored warnings on planned attack on Abuja-Kaduna train
- NIGERIA DAILY: Is Boycotting Election An Option To Solving Insecurity In Nigeria?
In a statement signed by the guild’s Vice President, Adekunle Salami, the editors described the decision to sack members of the Super Eagles’ technical crew as diversionary, adding that Nigerian football needed a clean break from the malaise of the last eight years.
“Nigerian football is bigger than any individual and should not be tied to the fortunes of anybody.
“The leadership of the current NFF has ridden on the back of Nigerian football to get to top positions in the world football governing body, FIFA, to the detriment of the game.
“Nigerian football now needs total overhaul, from the lowest league to the national team and that can only happen when patriotic individuals, not self-seekers, are given the opportunity to manage the game.
“We call on the National Assembly, the federal government, and especially, the sports minister, Sunday Dare, to begin the process of cleansing the football house.
“Tuesday’s failure is one of the results of poor decision making, dishonest deployment of men and materials, as well as avarice that have eaten deep into the fabrics of the NFF.
“We ask, therefore, that every executive member of the federation should resign honourably.”
The guild also recalls that the Algeria Football Federation (AFF) president Sharafeddine Emara resigned after his country failed to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup following the 2-1 defeat suffered against Cameroon at home last week.