The Super Eagles are bound to return to action in the months of September and October, if a forecast offered by the president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Melvyn Pinnick sees light of the day, megasportsarena.com gathered.
Although qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations and World Cup have both been put on hold until 2021, due to the unrelenting effects of coronavirus, Pinnick disclosed that the NFF are already making plans for the Eagles to play two friendlies in Portugal during the FIFA window in September, while another match is earmarked to hold in October.
The Eagles’ last competitive match was against Lesotho in November 2019, a 2021 AFCON qualifier, which the Nigerian team won 4-2 in Maseru, while their last international friendly was a 1-1 draw with Brazil in October 2019, such that Pinnick admitted that the team and their female colleagues, Super Falcons need to be kept busy immediately COVID-19 subsides.
While disclosing that the Eagles’ opponents will most likely be from South America and Africa, he assured that the NFF will prioritize qualification campaigns for the under-17 and under-20 female national teams for their various FIFA World Cup competitions, as well as get top grade international friendly matches for the Eagles and Falcons.
On the issue of continuous luring of players with dual-nationality into the Eagles, Pinnick stated that it will be a continuous process by his administration but affirmed that only players with keen interest in the Nigerian vision will be approached, as the NFF cannot beg any player to switch allegiance and don the nation’s colours at full senior level.
Pinnick also disclosed that the NFF will provide support for all clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), Nigeria National League (NNL), Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) and Nigeria Nationwide League (NNL 1) for next season’s campaign, as a result of challenges that have arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added during a live session on NFF’s official Instagram page that the NFF is expecting $1m from world football governing body, FIFA, and another $500,000 from Confederation of African Football (CAF) as palliatives to help clubs in the various leagues to overcome financial woes.
The NFF boss then threw more light on the controversial Points-Per-Game (PPG) formula that was recently adopted to end the stalled NPFL season and reiterated that it was the decision of a vast majority of clubs in the competition, which he said was also subjected to careful analyses and consultations with various stakeholders of the domestic game.
Even as he also disclosed that that the football body has written to the Federal Government to support the cause, he acknowledged that the nation’s political leadership is currently burdened by many challenges brought about by the COVID-19.
He ended with an appeal to the media and other stakeholders of the game to shun negative stories and sensationalism, as he alleged that some people he described as ‘misguided and mischievous’ members of the football family always finger officials in The Football House with unfounded corruption accusations and bandy outlandish figures misappropriated by the body.
Pinnick expatiated: “I keep saying that you may not like Amaju Pinnick, but the bigger picture is Nigerian Football and its future. Negative stories about the game have damaging impact on the brand and even when Pinnick leaves, the problem of damaged brand will still be there.
“Those of us at the helm of the NFF presently are there because we have the passion to develop the game, do things differently and take the Nigeria game to new heights. We came into office and brought gilt –edged corporations like PriceWaterHouseCoopers and Financial Derivatives Company on board because we are totally committed to transparency and accountability.
“There are legitimate claims that we forgo simply because we did not come into the Federation for the money. I appeal to everyone to consider the interests of Nigeria football and continue to shun the purveyors of half-truths and outright fiction.
“We are also going to support the league organizing bodies financially. We would take from these various monies and add also from monies that we are expecting from our corporate partners, and see what we can give to each of the clubs in these four cadres.
“This financial support is for them to get their campaigns off the ground for the new season that we have set for September/October, depending on what signals we get from the Federal Government, through the Presidential Task Force on the COVID-19 and other relevant organs.
“We did not just sit down and take a decision; we consulted widely even after the clubs opted for PPG following the work of the NFF Football Committee. The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development was also brought into the picture.
“CAF has written to inform us that the qualifiers for the U17 and U20 FIFA Women World Cups will hold in September and October. We are determined to prepare our girls well to qualify for both championships.
“At the same time, we are working assiduously to see that the Super Eagles and Super Falcons get quality opponents for friendly matches within the next few months. For the Super Eagles, we have an African team and a South American team on the cards. The arrangement is 70% confirmed. We hope to make use of the FIFA windows in both September and October.
“First and foremost, we have to get the Super Falcons a head coach of the highest quality possible. We are working on that, as our consultants are already on it, and also working on the appointment of coaches for some other national teams.
“On our part, we have ring fenced a sum of money to pay the head coach of the Super Falcons for a number of years to come, so that challenge is taken care of. It is about ardour and fervour. If a player has decided for Nigeria and only want to be assured that he would be much welcome, we will come in and provide that assurance.”
