EDITORIAL: NFF Incompetence Not Destiny Cost Super Eagles World Cup Ticket
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will kick off in less than two weeks in Doha, Qatar, and the Super Eagles of Nigeria will not be part of the biggest football festival in the world because of the incompetence of the NFF and not because it was so destined by God.
NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi should not only be ashamed of himself that Nigeria were destined not be in Qatar, he should also lose the job he so desperately wants to keep for such irresponsible talk.
Sanusi’s explanation runs counter to the “World Cup is Nigeria’s birthright” boast of Amaju Pinnick and further proved the total confusion in the NFF at that time.
Like a lazy man who blames his tools, the NFF, still not willing to take responsibility for this disaster, also blamed the Sports Ministry for Nigeria not qualifying for Qatar 2022.
The NFF Secretariat that Sanusi has headed in the last seven years is not only incompetent and inefficient, but failed to properly guide the NFF Executive Committee against sacking coach Gernot Rohr midway through the qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup.
The Super Eagles may not have been playing Champagne football under Rohr, but at least they were still getting the results.
By now blaming God for this monumental failure, Sanusi has again failed to take part of the responsibility while at the same time begging to keep his job.
Bungling Sanusi and the NFF Executive Committee who supervisied this national shame ought to have resigned their jobs on March 29, 2022, the day Nigeria Football died under their noses.
As expected, they refused to do the most honourable thing then, but the new NFF leadership cannot afford to carry on business as usual or else there will be more disasters ahead.
Sanusi can still be made accountable for the heartache the non-qualification to the World Cup has caused more than 200 Million Nigerians by sending him packing forthwith and also for a major re-organisation to be carried out at the NFF Secretariat for it to serve Nigeria Football better.
Proper direction and not playing to the gallery by the NFF Secretariat would have averted Nigeria’s failure not be at Qatar 2022.
