Super Eagles Urged To Forge New Narrative At AFCON After World Cup Heartbreak

With the 35th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Morocco just few days away (21st December 2025 – 18th January 2026), the executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has issued a rallying cry to the Super Eagles to “completely forget the unfortunate ending to the FIFA World Cup playoffs” and instead “use the same North African kingdom as the arena to write a new story about themselves and their abilities.”

The committee gave the explicit charged in a communique issued at the end of it’s meeting on Wednesday at the Sunday Dankaro House, Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

The Ibrahim Gusau-led executive committee of the football body, also mandated its secretariat to ensure a “hitch-free run-in” to the championship for the three-time African champions, underscoring the importance of optimal preparation.

In a parallel move, the committee instructed the Secretariat to vigorously pursue “quality friendly matches” for the Senior Women National Team, the Super Falcons, during the February 2026 FIFA window. This strategic effort aims to bolster the 10-time African champions as they target an 11th title and a coveted 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup ticket at the 14th Women Africa Cup of Nations, also scheduled for Morocco from 17th March to 3rd April 2026.

Beyond national team matters, the NFF addressed several critical areas. Following a comprehensive review of the country’s youth teams’ recent international struggles, the Technical and Legal departments have been tasked with developing fresh guidelines for establishing football academies. This initiative seeks to introduce new frameworks for genuine grassroots development, ensuring compliance with FIFA’s global regulations.

In a commitment to transparency, the Executive Committee endorsed the ongoing process for appointing an independent auditor for the Federation. This follows the conclusion of PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ two-tenure service, aligning with the gazetted provision that limits firms to two terms in such a role.

The NFF also expressed satisfaction with the construction progress of the NFF-FIFA Players’ Hostel and New Training Pitches, part of Nigeria’s FIFA Forward 3.0 project. Located opposite the NFF Secretariat in Abuja, the project is reportedly on track to meet its 24-month handover deadline.

However, a stern warning was issued regarding refereeing standards across all leagues. The Executive Committee conveyed “deep-seated disappointment” with the performance of many officials, vowing that “even sterner measures are on the way to curb the incidence of poor officiating, incompetence, collusion with Club officials and bare-faced manipulation of matches to favour certain teams and interests.”