NFF president Gusau bows to pressure and stands down in response to string of failures

NIGERIAN Football Federation (NFF) president Ibrahim Gusau has tendered his resignation amid mounting political pressure for him to stand down following the recent poor performances of the various national teams.

This year, the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the World Cup and during Mr Gusau's tenure, the junior teams have also missed out on global tournaments. Earlier this month, things came to a head when the Super Falcons not only crashed out of the Women's African Cup of Nations in the quarter final but also failed to qualify for the Fifa Women's World Cup.

Arguably Nigeria's most successful team ever, the Super falcons have won the Women's African Cup of Nations a record 10 times and have been at every single Women's World Cup since the inception of the tournament in 1991. Likewise, the Golden Eaglets have won the U17 World Cup a record five times but during Mr Gusau's tenure, they have failed to qualify for the last three tournaments.

Following these recent failures, there have been strident calls for Mr Gusau and his board to stand down but he has been defiant. Elections were due next month and Mr Gusau insisted that he would seek another four-year term but stakeholders across the Nigerian football community have repeatedly called for him to stand down.

It now appears that the pressure has become unbearable for Mr Gusau and he has finally decided to stand aside. Already, several members of his board have been pressurised to resign and under NFF rules, if nine members stand down, the government can step in and dissolve the rest of the board.

With Mr Gusau apparently gone, the Nigerian Sports Commission will now organise fresh elections into a new board. Already, there have been calls for Michael Emenalo, the former sporting director at Chelsea and Monaco and the current technical director of the Saudi Pro League to take over as the head of the NFF.

Nigerian football stakeholders believe his global experience makes him ideally suited for the job, although it is not yet clear if he will accept the position. With the NFF election scheduled for September 27 in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Mr Gusau's resignation could pave the way for a major restructuring of the federation’s leadership and administration.