President Tinubu said the aim of the reforms was to build a “stronger, more accountable and successful system” in Nigeria’s most popular sport.
“Football, the greatest beneficiary of public support, investment and national attention, has continued to struggle due to structural deficits,” he said.
“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football.”
Pressure had intensified on Gusau and the NFF in recent weeks after Nigeria missed out on a place at the 2027 Women’s World Cup, bringing to an end the country’s perfect attendance record at those finals since its inception in 1991.
The Super Falcons went into the recent Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) as defending champions but were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Cameroon before losing a World Cup play-off against South Africa.
“Going forward, I know the future of Nigerian football will be great,” Gusau said at Thursday’s press conference.
“I hope we will continue to give our contribution, because our experience and the connections and relationship we have within African football, we’ll never allow it to go to vain.”
While the Super Eagles finished runners-up at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations under Gusau’s administration, missing back-to-back World Cups represents an unprecedented decline for one of Africa’s traditional football powerhouses.
Nigeria has similarly struggled to make a significant impact in continental and global competitions at age-grade level.
