Chelsea legend, John Mikel Obi has said Nigeria needs to have the right people running our football to get the best results from the Super Eagles.
Mikel says having been in the set up for long, he knows what the problems are, and how to fix them very easily.
Speaking on his podcast,ObiOne, Mikel said “I was there for so many years, I know what’s going on, and I know how those things can be fixed very easily. “You need to have the right people running our football in Africa, especially the Nigerian national team.”
He said if the Super Eagles fail to qualify like in 2022, then the Nigeria Football Federation board should be sacked .
Mikel, who captained the Super Eagles to the 2018 World Cup said it would be a disaster if the teams miss a back-to-back World Cup having faltered against Ghana in the play-offs for the Qatar 2022 tournament.
He said “If Nigeria doesn’t qualify for the World Cup, the entire NFF board has to go… it’s unacceptable”. “We didn’t qualify for Qatar — the last World Cup — and now it looks like again we are not going to make it. Honestly, I have nothing to say about it.
The AFCON winner argued “The people that run our football back home in Nigeria need to be accountable for what’s happening. They have no clue what it’s like to get a top football player that plays in Europe to be able to perform.”
He also blamed the players for the very bad position Nigeria has found itself, but however wondered if the right conditions were created to get the best out of them.
Mikel noted “Yes, I’ll blame the players but it starts from the top. What do you do as a Federation to make the players perform the way they perform with their clubs?
He stressed “They are motivated the way they perform at their football club. Do you make the environment comfortable for them to perform? Do you provide for them what they need to perform?
“I look at them sometimes, they don’t look motivated because the surrounding and everything around it is not right.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the mundial in 2022 in Qatar after a heartbreaking scored draw with Ghana at the MKO Abiola National Stadium Abuja, and now looking dangerously unlikely to pick the sole ticket to the 2026 world cup.
The Super Eagles need to win their last two games against Lesotho and Benin Republic next month, while hoping and praying other results go their way to qualify for the play offs.
Nigeria currently occupy the third position in group C with 11 points, same as Rwanda though the latter has an inferior goal difference, while South Africa top the group with 17 points, and Benin Republic with 14 points are second.
