A former first vice-president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi has faulted what he called ‘lack of verve’ in the ongoing countdown of the female national team, Super Falcons’ impending outing at this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON 2025).
Sports247 reports that, heading into the competition that begins July 5th in Rabat, Morocco, the Falcons’ squad list of 24 players was released on Friday without any pomp and pageantry, while there is also no hype heralding their trip to Portugal on Sunday for the last phase of build-up up friendlies.
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Akinwunmi took another look at the seeming silence over activities surrounding the team’s impending assault on the African title, and the ex-NFF top shot opined that the nine-time champions have not been marketed properly by the current egg heads in Nigeria’s football governing body.
The former chairman of Lagos State Football Association (LSFA) reasoned at length, “The Falcons are a phenomenon themselves; irrespective of who’s in power as far as football is concerned.
“Yes, the type of administration can make a difference, but they are conquerors anyway, and I believe they will continue to be conquerors.”
Akinwunmi went on to advocate a situation in which Nigeria’s football administrators would key into modern-day trappings of razzmatazz, glitz and glitter to herald national team outings, instead of relying only on the ability of the selected players to deliver results on the field of play.
He reiterated: “Sports generally have gone beyond just playing on the pitch. There needs to be a lot of verve around it. There’s a need for a lot of visibility for the team and the individuals in the team. We need to catch up with the world in that regard.”
The lawyer-turned-football administrator concluded by pointing out the need for issues of social media, endorsements, merchandise, branding and commercialization to be taken into consideration while preparing the nine-time African champions for a potential record-extending tenth title at the upcoming WAFCON in Morocco.
“Considering the pedigree of this team, especially when they are winning, we need to catch up with the media part of it and the sponsorship part of it.
“There should be attention from all eyeballs following them and all kinds of hype. In that aspect, I don’t think we’ve done enough, and we really need to step up in that regard,” Akinwunmi admonished.
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