Chairman, National Sports Commission (NDC), Shehu Dikko, says the future of Super Eagles gaffer, Eric Chelle, will be decided by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Speaking via Zoom on Monday morning, the former Nigeria Premier League (NPFL) said the sports commission won’t call for Chelle’s sack, but will look at NFF recommendations before the final decision is taken
”As for Eric Chelle, it is the responsibility of the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) to decide that at the end of the day. After they sit, they will look at the analysis and recommend it to us, and we will look at it to either approve or disapprove it,” he told ChannelsTV.
Commenting on Nigeria’s hope of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Dikko maintained that Nigeria’s chances now hang in the balance, given Super Eagles’ position on the table, emphasising that the commission is left with no other option than to wait and hope for a miracle.
”As for the World Cup, we all know where we are; when we came on board, we only had three points out of 12. The Commission and the NFF put their heads together, and now we have eight points in the last four games. If we had got these points, we would have been talking of qualifying for the World Cup.
”At this moment, we have to be factual about it; based on the number, it is basically out of our hands. We just have to win our games and see where that would take us. But we are still hopeful because it’s football, and someone will lose, and anything can happen. Factually, it is not in our hands, and we just have to keep doing what we have to do by supporting the team,”he said
Nigeria saw their hopes of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup get even dimmer with a 1-1 draw against South Africa in Bloemfontein on Tuesday. Defender Calvin Bassey, playing at left back, climbed high to level scores after captain William Troost-Ekong had poked in an own goal to give Bafana Bafana the lead.
Substitute Tolu Arokodare came close to giving the Super Eagles the go-ahead goal within minutes of coming on as a halftime replacement for Cyriel Dessers, but his half-shot skimmed shy of the target.
