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President Tinubu said the aim of the reforms was to build a “stronger, more accountable and successful system” in Nigeria’s most popular sport.<\/p>\n
“Football, the greatest beneficiary of public support, investment and national attention, has continued to struggle due to structural deficits,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football.”<\/p>\n
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,<\/a> bringing to an end the country’s perfect attendance record at those finals since its inception in 1991.<\/p>\n 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.<\/a><\/p>\n “Going forward, I know the future of Nigerian football will be great,” Gusau said at Thursday’s press conference.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Nigeria has similarly struggled to make a significant impact in continental and global competitions at age-grade level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n