President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, has outlined moves the football body is about to carry out in order to address the recent decline in the performance of the country’s junior national teams.
Gusau expressed worry following Nigeria’s disappointing results across different youth competitions in recent months.
The Flying Eagles had a poor campaign at the just concluded FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile where they were thrashed 4-0 by Argentina in the round of 16.
Also the Golden Eaglets was eliminated, in the semifinals of the 2025 WAFU-B Cup which means they miss out of next year’s U-17 AFCON in Morocco.
Despite his concerns, Gusau assured that there is hope for the future, revealing that the NFF is already setting up structures in place.
“I am worried because the future of our football starts with them. However, the good news is that the NFF and FIFA have developed a talent development program for the U-15 boys and girls, which remains a top priority,” Gusau said.
“You may recall that last year, the U-15 boys were in Morocco to play some friendly matches. We are starting afresh. In the near future, it won’t be business as usual for the U-17s. Instead of calling open camps where over a thousand boys show up, selection will now begin from age 14.
“It’s a worrying trend because Nigeria has always been one of the best youth footballing nations in the world, not just in Africa. So we must act quickly.
“We’re collaborating with FIFA to establish a program that will eliminate open screening camps. Instead, zonal programs will identify the best players, who will then be brought to Abuja for close monitoring. Hopefully, we’ll get out of this situation soon.”
10 Comments
What is going on? This is very very bad in Nigeria, it is actually disheartening!
These people are taking the piss – these thieves treat the country’s important and strategic posts like their father’s property
Should this failure still be outlining anything at all in this country’s football??
He should be handing in his resignation or getting his marching orders!!
Ah! Nigeria, what goes on can bring one to tears!
Oh God, save this suffering country, we plead – nothing is impossible for you oh King! – Send a flood or something to get rid of all these leaches out of our country so we can reset and start again as a respectful nation – wring the filthy hands of these blood sucking parasites away from the annals of power in Nigeria! Amen!
What are you outlining, is it only the junior football, what about the dead and stinking league.
You guys are politician with zero affinity for genuine sport development.
You don’t needs to partner with fifa, if you guys very serious about developing football in nigeria.
Team selection has never been transparent in recent time. Hiring process for caoches is to sentimental and political in nature.
Is it fifa that will help you to select good players and hire a good coach, or remodel your dying league?
@Wike, you are right. This people are worthless are wretched. They deserve to be whipped until the weep.
NFF is your birth right i think. After all your poor result, you still dim it fit to be outlining your unproductive plans
This plan by the NFF to “revive” our failing youth football system, is Long overdue. I’ve been saying this for years. But buried within the fine print was a familiar posture of dependence — a call on FIFA to “help reposition” youth football in Nigeria. That, sadly, is where the problem begins.
Let me state the obvious: Nigeria doesn’t need FIFA to build its youth football foundation. Our decline didn’t happen because FIFA withheld funding or expertise; it happened because the NFF failed to create sustainable domestic structures for player development. The once-mighty Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles — the pride of world youth football — now struggle to qualify for continental tournaments, victims of weak scouting systems, poor coaching pipelines, and chaotic youth leagues.
FIFA can support, but it cannot substitute local commitment. Development cannot be outsourced. When Germany crashed out disgracefully from EURO 2000, they didn’t run to Zurich for answers. They looked inward. The Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB) launched a national blueprint that compelled every Bundesliga club to establish a certified youth academy — the Leistungszentrum — and built over 360 regional talent centres across the country.
Over the next decade, that reform produced a golden generation: Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos, Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and others. Germany invested more than €500 million in coaching, infrastructure, and integration with schools. By 2014, they were world champions — proof that system beats sentiment every time.
Nigeria can adopt this model without mimicking its price tag. The NFF should establish regional youth hubs in all 36 states and the FCT, certify club academies based on transparent standards, integrate football with selected secondary-school timetables, and mandate at least 20 competitive matches yearly for U-13 to U-17 age groups. Just as crucially, train and license at least 1,000 youth coaches within two years — the true engine of grassroots reform.
FIFA’s role should be limited to co-funding, technical exchanges, and curriculum sharing. The strategy, implementation, and accountability must remain firmly Nigerian. Until we build a system that outlives its administrators, every so-called “revival” will be another recycling of excuses.
It’s time the NFF stopped acting like a tenant in its own football house. We don’t need FIFA to raise our football children — we only need to start parenting them properly.
Don’t mind him….While we were doing well previously in youth football..was it FIFA that was helping us develop our football?
When a certain individual called papafem is more mentally, technically and intellectually sound and full of proper ideas on how to improve/restructure our football than an organization called the NFF then we are truly cooked.
I have never been a fan of the body due to their corrupt electoral statutes whereby clueless State FA chairmen who make up the board meticulously recycle power amongst themselves in the name of an election. Change this and our football will follow suit.
I rest my case.
What are u talking about?Hope you’re not staying for a 2nd tenure?
i
It is clear that our football is in deep shit. If this man actually knows what he is doing..our football won’t degenerate to this level while he is in charge. What he just said up there is an agreement that his tenure has failed Nigerian football. He should honourably resign and let someone else try their knowledge. …But I also know that is NEVER going to happen which means We still have new lows to sink to. Take heart Nigerian football lovers
Dr.drey really jolted Gusau from his slumber. Gusau must have been quizzed about what he wrote yesterday. Seeing another pathetic performance from flamingos just now brought that article to mind (Disclaimer: I edited the comment a bit with keywords EMPHASIZED and some strong words excluded because the recipient(s) of the reply who claim they are more patriotic, “BE EVER SEEING BUT NEVER PERCEIVING, AND EVER HEARING BUT NEVER UNDERSTANDING; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT TURN..”
Excerpts:
”Facts and bare truth has become “negativity” to charlatans like you. People like you, who hate the truth and want to patch up imminent disaster with motar, are the reason NIGERIAN FOOTBALL is in the SORRY state that it is now. I am sure if you are given the chance, you would come here and tell us all that Mamelodi Sundowns never creamated Remo Stars on their own turf (without even leaving their lowest gear)”. “According to Sunday Oliseh, those who are 30 and below can be forgiven for celebrating Nigeria qualifying (albeit controversially) for a series of playoff tournaments in order to qualify for the World cup, but it will be a shame for anyone above 30 who does so. But can you shame the shameless……absolutely NO.”
”Your LOCAL CLUBS and NATIONAL TEAMS are FALTERING left, right and centre with HORRIBLE and HEARTBREAKING performance, and results that betray the proud footballing history we once carried around with RAISED shoulders across Africa, both at club and national team levels, but to stupid IDIOTS like you, all is well…..nothing is wrong. This are as they are supposed to be. Status quo should be maintained.” “This SEASON, Nigeria will definitely NOT FEATURE in the CAF WOMEN’S champions league, We will definitely NOT FEATURE in the CAF CONFEDERATIONS CUP, 1 representative in the CAF Champions league is ALREADY eliminated after 1 leg, while the 2nd ISN’T gauranteed to win in the 2nd leg. We also will definitely NOT FEATURE in the CAF U17 AFCON and of course, our SE COULDN’T secure automatic qualification for the WC. I am very sure all these sound like music to your ears.”
”For someone who cannot see the unfairness and undue advantage of not playing the playoffs matches SIMULTANEOUSLY, for someone who cannot see the wickedness in SUBTRACTING 6 hard won points from team who have no business with another team elsewhere that withdrew from the qualifiers when a SIMPLE walk over would have achieved the same end goals, you must be the most stupid idiot on the planet.” “Otherwise WHO in his RIGHT senses COME to DEFEND the NONSENSE we’ve been painfully forced to watch from our U20 and U17 women, when even the NFF has done away with Zubairu and will surely do away with Olowokere should the flamingoes lose their next match against France….???”
”Of course, I will MENTION Olowokere because you are TOO stupid to realize that first, this article present another DISGRACEFUL outing by a nigerian UNDERAGE team BADLY and POORLY tutored by ANOTHER LOCAL coach which makes it analogous to the Zubairu whom you are cooking up all sorts of silly and dumb excuses to EXONERATE of his own LACK of competence at the GLOBAL stage..” “I HAVE ASKED you to TELL us 4 Nigerian coaches COACHING at ANY level on the African CONTINENT and I will LIST 10 from South Africa……..up till now your have not been able to mention even 1…….not a single name……..but you are going around bitting trees praising failures…”
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Papafem added actionable points above but can a leopard, read NFF under Gusau, change its spot?