Sports Ministry, NFF Agree To Expand Search For Super Eagles Manager

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been given more time to interview more coaches with a view to getting the best possible candidate as Super Eagles’ manager.

A source in a meeting between the Sports Ministry and the NFF said both bodies agreed to work together in the interest of Nigerian football, adding that the Federation will, in the next few days, interview prospective coaches/candidates seeking to become Super Eagles Technical Adviser.

The source, who disclosed that the chosen coach would be named before Nigeria begins its campaign to qualify for Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, added that after interviewing the interested coaches, the NFF would meet with the ministry to reach a final decision on the right candidate for the job.

“The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are to be fully worked out and put in place before a new national coach is hired .

“The Ministry tasked NFF on absolute commitment to the rebuilding process for Nigerian football and the national teams in all areas,” the source said.

Recall that the NFF has been searching for a substantive coach since the federation sacked German, Gernot Rohr, on the eve of the Cameroun 2021 African Cup of Nations.

The NFF toyed with the idea of giving the job to its technical director, Augustine Eguavoen, who it placed in charge of the Super Eagles temporarily to supervise Nigeria’s participation in the Nations Cup and the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers. But the experiment backfired, culminating in Nigeria failing to go beyond the second round of the AFCON in Cameroun and also lost its bid to qualify for the World Cup to Ghana.

The NFF had earlier announced Portugal’s Jose Peseiro as Rohr’s replacement, but the Sports Ministry rejected the Federation’s choice, saying the field should be expanded to give all qualified coaches opportunity to prove they can lead the national team successfully.