Dalung wants NFF’s technical committee restructured

Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, yesterday said the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) technical committee must be restructured if the country is to make any appreciable progress in football.

The minister, who disclosed this yesterday shortly after a closed-door meeting the leadership of NFF, added that there was a need for the committee to reorganise itself in order to meet the aspirations of Nigerians.

“The technical team of the Nigerian Football Federation, which also has a fair share of some of the destruction and internal wrangling, must reorganise itself to be prepared to meet the aspirations of Nigerians.

“The entire architecture of football in Nigeria requires some form of overhaul; presentations of proposal earlier made were also considered, but my position still remains that the board must take concrete steps to regain the confidence of Nigerians and in doing that, I have demanded for a comprehensive wakeup of success of football in Nigeria,” he said.

Dalung noted that instability, internal wrangling in the NFF, poor funding, lack of commitment and distraction were some of the reasons responsible for the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2017 African Cup of Nations.

He said: “Lack of commitment and distraction on the part of players and officials are issues. I also directed that haven identified these problems, the board must go back and maintain strong internal cohesion.”

The minister added that the NFF have also promised to give a more in-depth technical report on the failed outing of the Super Eagles in the qualifiers.

He asked the Pinnick led NFF to present a report where he will state why Nigeria actually need a foreign coach.

On the issue of hiring a foreign coach, the minister revealed that he has directed NFF to state how the foreign coach would be funded in the report, adding that the decision to hire a foreign coach would be decided based on the technical report.

Dalung noted that money released by the ministry to the NFF did not include payment of their coaches, saying the football body has to mop up money from wherever to pay the coaches.

“The issue of a foreign coach was debated extensively, but it was still referred to the technical committee alongside the NFF to show why the option of a foreign coach is viable, if it is indeed viable, where do we get the source for funding. They are expected to present the report to the minister in four weeks.”