Chairman of Federal Capital Territory Football Association (FCTFA) Abba Muhtar has expressed his disappointment in the inability of Nigeria’s U-17 side, the Golden Eaglets to qualify for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup even as he described it as a monumental disaster, Completesports.com reports exclusively
Muhtar who is also a member of the NFF Three-member National Teams Advisory Committee, set up in October 2022 by NFF President Ibrahim Gusau told Completedports.com in Abuja that there won’t be a second chance for the technical crew to try again since they failed to live up to expectation.
“It is disappointing and a disaster of national magnitude that our revered Golden Eaglets who have won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup five times failed to qualify from the U-17 AFCON losing to Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals. It’s disastrous and we cannot allow recent poor outings at the continental level to persist. The coaches just have to give way to others to try,” Muhtar told Completesports.com.
“With this loss, we have failed to present a young crop of players to the world to showcase their talents. It also means that the supplies to the senior national team will be affected. I am not saying that it is our birthright to win all the time but we cannot be reduced to the level of missing out on the World Cup
“It is my opinion that the team’s technical crew should be asked to go, to serve as a deterrent to coaches who fail to meet the responsibility and targets given to them. There should be no second chance for coaches who fail to meet the expectations of Nigerians,” the football Muhtar.
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On the way forward, Muhtar who is seeking a second term in office as FCT FA Chairman, said: “We have to produce and implement a blueprint that will redirect our football. Recent developments in our football are a clear indication that we are derailing and have to get back on track. We have to put a stop to recent setbacks.”
Asked how to stop football players’ agents from influencing the invitation and selection of players into the national teams, the Kano-born football administrator said it’s only a stupid coach that will allow agents to force players on him to the detriment of his career.
“Any Coach found wanting should not only be sacked but also suspended for some time from practicing,” Muhtar concluded.
By Richard Jideaka, Abuja
17 Comments
Start with Salisu and eguavoen . Then we go know say your head correct.
, the Kano-born football administrator said it’s only a stupid coach that will allow agents to force players on him to the detriment of his career………….. Oga their career is secured even if they fail, fail, and become failures, so stupidity and agents forcing players is the way to go sir, abi you self no well? We want action, not all thz talk talk phone. Salisu has been doing serious press up with his man bag hanging by his side, waiting for the next job n you dey here dey oyanor…
@Glory, don’t mind all these corrupt people.
Don’t mind them my brother the highest corrupt set of people in the world. Half-baked, shortsighted and most wicked president is handling over to drugbaron , fake certification and fake identification president select.
Muhktar, what is your background in football,how did you become the chair of football admin in Abuja? if we must redirect our football to winning ways Nff and the Federal ministry of sports ,especially the youth development department must be purged of dead woods , the action you are calling for should not start from the coaches, it should start from politicians like you parading yourselves as football administrators without an inkling of what to do , Sports especially football used to be a part of our school curriculum in Nigeria until you politicians decided to Hijack our football for money and fame. Just imagine when you were asked the way forward , you had no clue, so let me help you and your cohorts to move our football forward. FIRST THING _: TAKE OUR FOOTBALL BACK TO THE NIGERIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM – PRIMARY DRAW UP SCHOOL COMPETITIONS LIKE THE PRINCIPAL CUP AND ACADEMICALS of old . Look people like you should not be at the helm of our football administration because you guys don’t know what you are doing, that is why our football is dying. It was the school system that threw up all the star players that took Africa by storm until you politicians suddenly became the think tank of our football , the first thing you guys did was to kill grassroot development of our football so that you can continue to line your pockets with the money meant for grassroot development Blaming the coaches and bad pitches and football agents for the embarrassing failures that await you tomorrow will not help our football. Make una wait, Togo, Benin, Chad,Niger,etc dey come wack una for Abuja again and again
This Muhktar guy… where was his voice when his brother,the notorious and slimy Salisu Yusuf could not qualify for CHAN,U-23 AFCON? It is still not even talked about but Salisu Yusuf is still a paid coach with Super Eagles? How about sending Nduka Ugbade for a refresher coaching course about modern football tactics and coaching techniques?
See as you Jimmy day talk people day talk true you want bring tribalism as you no sabi talk oga make you learn how to talk
I support Muhtar on this.
This must also be applied to Salisu.
All of wuna way day talk rubbish wana day part of the corruption way we day talk about you glory and Jimmy ball, Frank Smith wuna know the kind achievement way muktar bring come Abuja wuna day talk rubbish if wuna no sabi talk and appreciate good thing way person day talk make wuna short up and face wuna business
@Abdullahi Yahaya… Where was all this talk when Salisu Yusuf was caught collecting bribes and has failed in every assignment given to him? The solution is not always sack the coach… The Nigeria U-17 team performed well, we cannot win all the time. Those boys are very talented but ofcourse some made mistakes. They played good football and competed well against their peers… Football has good days and bad days. Some of the teams presented players who had grade 6 rating on MRI results. Nigeria presented only players with at most Grade 4… even though CAF and FIFA put the acceptible cut at Grade 6. We present a team that was truly young. There were key players from the WAFU qualifiers who had grade 5 which is within the tournament allowable MRI grade cut of 6 and NFF stopped the coach from taking those players… If Ebube Okere and Jibril Azeez who were on MRI grade 5 mark were allowed to go Nigeria could easily have won that tournament… Those players should be kept together because we have a starting point for next U-20 Qualifiers…
Yahya, you are a tribalist, people like you are the reason why Nigeria is not moving forward. Anyhow, i will always hammer on what i wrote some days back, if we must purge our football of dead woods it has to start from politicians turned football administrators like muhktar, they are the real problem of our football, they are the ones that killed school/grassroot development of our football which is the main reason why our teams at the National level are starved of raw and talented young footballers, just imagine in one year we fail to qualify for common Chan, Caf Olympics qualification tournament and U17 World Cup. Yahya, if you are not ashamed i am .
I feel bad not only because we lost but because s generation of talented youngsters have lost the opportunity to be exposed and marketed to the world
Sir, not these players because they were not good and we all saw it. So it is not a loss to Nigeria but themselves. Real players will always find their way to the top regardless of what happens to them at youth level.
@Chizoba Odo… Thanks for this comment, anyone who has played football will know those boys are super talented and could do better with improved coaching. I will keep that team together and those who were cut from the team because they had MRI grade 5 result which was good enough for the tournament but were prevented from attending because NFF wanted grade 4 at most. We shot ourselves on the foot not allowing Ebube Okere and Jibril Azeez to attend the tournament in Algeria despite passing the CAF and FIFA MRI scan grade mark. They should form the bedrock for the next U-20 team… they will have grown, be better players and will have learnt from this disappointment. Nothing stops NFF helping Nduka Ugbade go a 2weeks refresher coaching course on techniques and tactics in Europe. This is where countries like Morocco and Senegal are better us than us as a nation…
This FCT football chairman has said it all. Another disaster with Ladan Bosso, this under 21 coach, is about to happen. We continue to glorify failures, giving them opportunities but they continue failing. U no ser those ones. Coach Salisu is also there, another serial failure. Oga Chairman ,let’s start from those your people first.
Nduka Ugbade has done his best for Nigeria. Coaching is a profession, not a birthright.Let someone else try.
@Ako Amadi… Coaching is not a trial and error job. This was the same coach whom everyone hailed barely a year ago when he dispatched all comers… Ghana, Cote d’voire, and even same Burkina Faso to clinch the trophy in the WAFU Zone B… He is a talent spotter and had done well with the guys he assembled. I will call for him to be retained on the job atleast to produce another set of Eaglets… everything on life needs experience and he has learnt from this failed course… no one can question the fact some of the boys were selfishly playing to impressed scout and these sort of advice will be impressed upon them by their local club coaches to the detriment of the team. Let the coach learn from this to do better next time and I suggest he be sent on even 2weeks refresher course on tactics to Europe.