Fumbling NFF throw Finidi under the bus

Like thieves in the night, the NFF executive committee sneaked into Abuja Wednesday in a desperate bid to save their own jobs in the aftermath of a catastrophic 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign by the Super Eagles.

After four rounds of matches in a relatively easy six-team group, the three-time African champions are now without a win and languish second from bottom of the standings with Nigeria’s hopes of featuring at the 2026 World Cup in complete shambles.

As expected, the selfish men and women supposedly elected to administer football in the country have moved at supersonic speed to save their own skin.

Their scapegoat is Finidi George, who only last month they had presented to the whole world as the man to lead Nigeria to glory again.

Unfortunately, it has not gone to script as Nigeria are at the brink of back-to-back failure to qualify for the World Cup.

The NFF wish to absolve themselves of the blame in this fiasco and the most convenient move is for Finidi to be the proverbial sacrificial lamb, the guy to take their fall.

Finidi certainly has had his own shortcomings, but the NFF have as usual failed to take full responsibility for their incompetence and clear lack of capacity in the whole of this unfolding drama.

The decision by the NFF to turn their back on Finidi within weeks of his appointment is an indictment on their own judgement and decision making process.

They have clearly shown that they have been overwhelmed by the tasks they have been entrusted with, but rather than take the noble route of quitting their posts, they would rather prefer to now push Finidi under the bus.

First, they did not manage well the process that eventually led to the selection of Finidi as the new Super Eagles coach.

By the end of February, Jose Peseiro took his leave after guiding the country to an unexpected AFCON final.

While other teams from the same AFCON immediately effected changes of their coaches, The NFF were not decisive and played to the gallery till in May that they announced Finidi even when all along that was the man they had head hunted.  

The same NFF failed to enforce a deadline for the Super Eagles call-ups to get into training camp in Uyo for the must-win 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin.

They also did not think through the team’s match schedule even when they had three date options for their home game against South Africa.

The consequence of this glaring act of incompetence is that the Super Eagles played on Friday night, then flew out to Abidjan Sunday to play the following day against Benin.

A team like Benin were fresher because they played their first game a day earlier than Nigeria, did not have to travel before they now welcomed the Super Eagles to Abidjan three full days later.

There have also been allegations of interference by the NFF leadership in team selection and of course, SCORENigeria has consistently reported that the NFF have failed to motivate the team.

The NFF have yet to clear the outstanding bonuses and allowances of the team dating as far back as three years ago, and which President Bola Tinubu so graciously approved with a 12 Billion Naira intervention fund in January and which is now cooling in the NFF account.

Do you still have to wonder why the Super Eagles did not play with fire in their bellies when what they worked so hard for has been held back from them?