FIFA:Nigeria is third worst football developing nation’

WORLD football ruling body, FIFA, has come out with a damning verdict on Nigerian football, saying the country is the third worst soccer developing nation in the world, according to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee member, Adegboye Onigbinde.Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, and the men and women football event of the 2012 Olympics. In 2011, both its men and women teams failed to qualify for the 2011 All Africa Games.

In a telephone chat yesterday, Onigbinde disclosed that the ratings, which were conducted during the annual meeting of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Technical Committee in Seychelles last month, was contrary to the series of commendations the NFF has received from the same CAF for its development programmes.

The Super Eagles’ former coach and member of CAF and FIFA Technical Sub-committee, said the rating was informed by the number of technical trainings conducted by the various federations. He added that the inability of the NFF to appoint a technical director has contributed to the stagnant state of football development in the country.

“Let me tell you one thing, less than a month ago, we were in Seychelles for the annual technical committee meeting of CAF and Nigeria was rated one of the worst three countries in terms of football development,” he said.

“Do you know why the rating bothers me? I can show you commendation letters from CAF, and the development programme CAF is running emanated from my recommendations in 1988. Yet, it was my country that was not moving.

“Ghana has trained no fewer than 200 C-License holders, the same with B-License. I was in Ghana two months ago to supervise their A-License, but we are still battling with C-License in this country. I had to overstretch myself to make it a possibility.”

He pointed out that the technical department is the nerve centre of football development and urged the NFF to appoint a technical director, as doing so would lead to fashioning out functional technical policies that would lead to football development in the country.

“We all know that football is a technical matter. No matter how good an administrator may be, if the results are not coming, people would certainly call for your head,” he noted.

“But we cannot get good result without a functional, virile technical sector. That is what makes the position of a technical director very vital.

“From the president of the NFF to the messenger, they are there to worship the product of the technical department. So, if the technical department is not properly organised, they are not serious.”

 Guardian