There was a crucial meeting midweek which could change the face of football in the country. It was a meeting between the top shots of the National Sports Commission, the Nigeria Football Federation, Nigeria Professional Football League and the Super Eagles coach, Eric Chelle.
NSC Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko, NSC Director-General Hon. Bukola Olopade, NFF President Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau and NFF General Secretary Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, attended the strategic meeting. Discussions were focused on charting a sustainable path for Nigerian football, with key resolutions reached on the national teams and the Nigeria Premier Football League.
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One of the major outcomes of the meeting was the decision to extend the contract of Super Eagles head coach, Chelle, alongside an improved remuneration package.
The NSC also reaffirmed its commitment to covering the salaries of Chelle’s assistant coaches, relieving him of a financial responsibility he had previously borne from his earnings. Chelle has been entrusted with the additional responsibility of leading Nigeria’s U-23 national team, the Olympic Eagles.
The appointment is part of a broader strategy to align the playing philosophy of the senior national team with that of the Olympic side while creating a pathway for emerging talents.
Officials at the meeting noted the Olympic Eagles’ rich legacy as the first African football team to win a complete set of Olympic medals, claiming gold at Atlanta 1996, silver at Beijing 2008, and bronze at Rio 2016.
The expectation is that Chelle’s oversight will help restore the team to continental and global relevance. It was also resolved that from the next season, the league champions will receive a record N1bn prize money. The runners-up will earn N500m, while the third-placed team will receive N300m.
Teams finishing further down the table will also receive financial rewards based on their final positions, ensuring that every club benefits from the enhanced revenue structure. As part of the new measures, a minimum monthly salary of N2m for NPFL players has been approved.
The policy is intended to improve players’ welfare, reduce the exodus of talented footballers abroad in search of greener pastures, and make the league more attractive to quality players. In addition was the issue of television which is very important to me, Dikko said: “Our players must be seen. Our league must be known. Television coverage is non-negotiable.”
In the end, the resolutions reached at the meeting might have signaled a new era of collaboration between the NSC and the NFF. The proposed reforms are very good for the development of football.
The NSC and the NFF deserve commendation as they are apparently reacting based on the pains Nigerians are currently enduring about the absence of the Super Eagles from the ongoing Copa Mundial in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. However, there are so many ambiguities in the resolutions rolled out.
The new salary of Chelle was not officially stated but it was learnt to be $100,000 but who pays the new package of the first to third winners of the NPFL? The N2m minimum wage of the players, how will that be achieved? Then, the new contract of Chelle, was it mere verbal agreement or all parties have signed to agree terms? Sports generally is a media event, it was a shock that there was no media invitation to boost the strategic meeting.
Even if the meeting was a closed door arrangement, questions after the meeting could help to further shed light on grey areas. The media department of the NFF did not even have answers to questions posted on the crucial meeting. Again, there were divided opinion on the U-23 role given to Chelle but I believe it is not a bad idea.
There is need to have a very good solid assistant as the head coach of the Olympic team while Chelle will oversee proceedings. His new package is good and the Eagles cannot play more than 10 games in one year except there is a tournament. In the days ahead, there is need for more clarifications.
The Wednesday meeting should have been kept private until they come out to stage a contract renewal signing of Chelle. It is important to make public things that could be questionable in future.
The ambiguities in these reforms are too many and it is important to tackle all of these early and align the issues of who does what in the lofty proposed arrangements.
