Mabo frowns as NFF moves to ‘phase out’ old Super Falcons players

Former Super Falcons coach, Ismaila Mabo has warned the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) of the consequences of phasing out the entire old players in the senior national team because of their alleged role in the protest over unpaid wages after the last Women Nations Cup in Cameroun in December 2016.

On Tuesday, the NFF unveiled new Super Falcons’ Head Coach, Thomas Dennerby, his Swedish assistant, Jorgen Petersson, with all four coaches, who led the team to capture the title in Cameroun dropped. In their place, the football house announced four new assistants, Oni Olanrewaju Wemimo, Maureen Mmadu, Taiwo Omobolanle Tundun and Precious Dede.
 
And on Wednesday, the NFF rolled out a new set of players for the senior national team without a single mention of those who were part of the victory in Cameroun. The ‘new’ Super Falcons will fly the nation’s flag at the maiden WAFU Women Cup of Nations holding in Cote d’Ivoire, from February 10 – 24.

Speaking with The Guardian, Mabo warned the NFF that phasing out the entire old generation of the senior players at once could be counter productive for the country.

“What criteria did the NFF use in inviting these new set of players? Mabo asked. “A new set of coaches has just been named and one should expect them to have a mixture of the old players and some new faces for the WAFU Cup competition. If the NFF wants to punish the players and their coaches for their role in the protest after winning the Nations Cup for Nigeria, then they are making a big mistake. The NFF is directly or indirectly digging a pit for the new coach and his assistants to fall in. Such action by the NFF will never end well. I was expecting a situation where over 80 percent of the players that featured at the Nations Cup in Cameroun will be part of this new team. Anything less than that is a wrong step on the part of the NFF,” Mabo stated.

Contacted on the issue, the first vice president of the NFF, Seyi Akinwunmi said: “I am not a member of the Technical Committee, but as a matter of fact, I don’t want to agree that the NFF is punishing anybody for her role in that protest in Abuja in 2016.”