Forget 2026 W’Cup, prepare for 2030 edition, Jalla tells NFF

Harrison Jalla, the Head of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force, has urged the Nigeria Football Federation to shift its focus towards long-term planning and preparation for the 2030 World Cup, rather than investing in the recruitment of a foreign coach for the Super Eagles.

Jalla made this statement in response to the federation’s recent decision to recruit a foreign coach for the Super Eagles, a move that came on the heels of the team’s disappointing performance in the qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup.

Apparently unhappy with the team’s dismal outing in their recent qualifying matches, which saw them force South Africa to a 1-1 draw in Uyo and lose 2-1 to Benin Republic in Ivory Coast, the football body on Thursday evening announced its decision to bring in an expatriate coach to boss Finidi George for the remaining World Cup qualifying matches and the upcoming AFCON qualifiers, leaving a rash of bitter reactions in its wake.

Jalla said the problem of the Eagles and Nigerian football was administrative, which the NFF didn’t have both expertise and capacity to address.

“Nothing can be done to salvage the situation; we are already out of the 2026 World Cup and should be preparing for the 2030 edition. The former President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) tried his best, but we still couldn’t qualify for the 2022 edition in Qatar because the people in the NFF don’t know what to do,” Jalla told our correspondent in a telephone interview.

“This is a sheer waste of time. Do they expect the coach to do everything? The problem of the team is administrative and organisational, which the NFF doesn’t have the capacity to provide.

“Our football has been on a free fall for the last 10 years, and there are no remedies for it because the wrong people are running it.

“In our time, we used to have a standby team where players in the domestic league would vie for spots against foreign-based counterparts. But that is no longer the case.”

Jalla added, “What happens these days is the coach coming down to Nigeria during FIFA windows to gather the players in three days and play matches, or the players strolling into camp two or three days before a crucial match.

“We should have a sound technical committee that is bigger than the coach, and that will draw up programmes for the coach. We used to have people like Austin Akosa and Segun Odegbami on that committee.”

Meanwhile, Tajudeen Disu, a former Flying Eagles player and current Technical Director of the Lagos State Football Association, has expressed amusement at the NFF’s decision, which he believes was a predetermined move by the body’s officials. According to Disu, this decision was always part of their original plan, which was evident when they chose Finidi George over Emmanuel Amuneke.

“I said it from the beginning that these NFF people would mess Finidi up. They knew Amuneke was the best indigenous coach who applied for the job, but they chose Finidi because they could control him and make him fail, so, they could hire a foreign coach.

“That has been their plan, and they said it loud and clear.

“Nigerians were agitating for an indigenous coach, which the NFF didn’t want, and the only way they satisfied Nigerians and still had their way was to appoint an indigenous coach. They will make sure the coach doesn’t live up to expectations and thus put an end to the agitation for an indigenous coach.

“As it is now, no indigenous coach can apply for the job at the moment or in the near future.”