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AFCON 2025
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$130,000 a month or the exit door, the NFF's most expensive football decision in a generation.
The Nigerian Football Federation faces a defining moment in its football leadership, as head coach Eric Chelle has tabled a $130,000 monthly salary demand, more than double his current earnings, against a backdrop of missed World Cup qualification, a bronze medal finish at AFCON 2025, and a 19-point personal conditions list that has set the Glass House on edge.
The number alone defines the debate. Chelle, who failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and did not reach the AFCON final as contractually mandated, is asking for a 160% pay rise.
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Nigeria's bronze medal finish in Morocco, secured by defeating Egypt on penalties, was respectable. It was not, by any contractual measure, sufficient.
The 19-point proposal has sharpened the friction further. Beyond the salary, Chelle's demands include a private SUV with chauffeur and security, business class flights for himself and his wife, a secured residence with 24-hour electricity, and most controversially, the inclusion of his Personal Assistant within the national team's bonus and allowance structure.
Individually, none of these conditions are unprecedented in elite football management. Together, presented against a backdrop of unmet targets, they have raised serious questions at every level of the federation.
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The streets have spoken
Nigerian football's loudest courtroom has delivered its verdict and it is split cleanly down the middle.
The opposition is blunt. One widely circulated Super Eagles follower’s perspective dismissed the demand outright, describing the AFCON result as "a setback, from Silver to golden Bronze won by a lot of domestic coaches," and targeting the Personal Assistant clause specifically as "embarrassing and funny."
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The same voice added a sharp observation about the NFF's own failures in the relationship, "it's also embarrassing to see that the NFF have not provided him a lot of things listed" before concluding that the federation should "take their time and make the right offer" rather than capitulate to the full demand.
The defence is equally firm. Supporters have challenged what they describe as Nigeria's chronic impatience, the desire for trophies before the foundations are properly laid.
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One fan drew the sharpest contrast directly: "Peseiro Eagles is better than Chelle Eagles cos we won silver last AFCON? Go and touch grass."
The argument being that a final appearance under Peseiro masked deeper structural problems that Chelle has quietly begun to address.
The most measured voice in the debate offered a roadmap rather than a verdict. Acknowledging that Angola and Tunisia are prepared to pay Chelle $100,000 per month, one supporter urged the NFF to negotiate rather than dismiss, proposing a new contract built around winning either AFCON 2027 or 2028 and qualifying Nigeria for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
"He has unfinished business with the Super Eagles," the argument concluded. In Nigerian football, that phrase carries genuine emotional weight.
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What the NFF must do now
The market context is real and cannot be ignored. If two rival federations value Chelle at $100,000 per month, the NFF is not negotiating in a vacuum.
The question is whether Nigeria's football ambitions justify paying a premium above that figure for a coach who has not yet met his primary targets or whether a firm, fair counter-offer is the more defensible position.
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The smarter path runs through neither unconditional backing nor abrupt dismissal. A structured counter-offer, tied to specific and non-negotiable performance targets, gives both parties clarity.
If Chelle accepts, he has something to prove and a contractual obligation to prove it. If he walks away from a reasonable offer, the NFF's decision to move on becomes infinitely easier to defend publicly.
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The Super Eagles are too visible, too important and too deeply woven into Nigerian national identity to be managed by sentiment, in either direction. This decision deserves the precision the fans are demanding, even if they cannot agree on the answer.
Chelle's current monthly salary: $50,000. Demand: $130,000. Angola and Tunisia reportedly offering $100,000. NFF has not publicly confirmed the status of extension negotiations.