EDITORIAL: NFF planning for Golden Eaglets to fail

The NFF will have to take the full blame and the consequences that come with that should the Golden Eaglets fail to qualify for the 2024 U17 AFCON.

The football federation led by Ibrahim Gusau have taken a lot for granted as it concerns the preparation of the Golden Eaglets for the WAFU B U17 AFCON qualifying tournament in Ghana.

First, they took their time to appoint Manu Garba as head coach knowing full well that issues such as the MRI Age Test will always bog down the team’s preparations.

Against the laughable rejoinder put up by the NFF, SCORENigeria has gone ahead to publish figures of the number of players who failed the test just days to the qualifying tournament in Ghana.

It is on record that 18 of the initial 35 players who underwent the age test failed, leaving the squad with 17 players, who were mostly in the reserves.

We therefore dare the NFF to come out with their own figures rather than the rigmarole that they embarked on in the name of damage control.

As a result of the tardiness of the NFF, the Golden Eaglets have been seriously depleted going into the competition.

Their preparation for the defence of their sub-regional championship has also been disgraceful to say the least.

Hosts Ghana have been putting final touches to their training for the competition in Russia, while Burkina Faso, who Nigeria will face in their opening Group B match on May 16, have been preparing in Turkey.

This is yet another sorry case of planning to fail by the NFF leadership, which has not covered itself in glory with how it has handled crucial decisions like the appointment of a new Super Eagles coach.

Nigeria football deserves a lot more than the present NFF administration has delivered.