Minister meets NFF, demands written explanation for dismal outing

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare on Monday met the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to demand a written explanation as to the exit of Nigerian teams from football tournaments.

In a meeting that lasted less than 30 minutes, the minister directed that NFF should “provide the federal government with written explanation to the developments of our teams failing in four major tournaments.

“From stock taking it is now time to render account to Nigerians,” he said even as he warned that “We need to take very difficult decisions.”

The NFF secretariat particularly came under scrutiny for the technical failings of the board.

“We need to run a reality check. Nigerians are not happy with our state of football. We must start with the football administration. Nigerians want to see us working proactively to get things working again.”

“I am not saying we should win at all cost, beyond identifying various issues what do we need to do to deal with these issues.  The board has a responsibility. I am asking the board to do surgical examinations of what has gone wrong with our football,” he said.

The Minister also demanded for the nominal roll of the NFF as it was revealed that the federation has continued to pay some people with expired contracts. He said the Ministry’s concern goes beyond the dismal performance but is also about the domestic league.

NFF Chairman, Amaju Pinnick lamented that federation was faced with a toxic situation that affected its administration.