We banned ourselves from World Cups - Ex-FA chairman demands NFF board to resign

Former sports administrator and journalist Danladi Bako has called for the immediate resignation of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board, led by President Ibrahim Gusau, arguing that the country's football administration has failed to deliver on its most important responsibilities.

Bako's criticism follows a difficult period for Nigerian football, with the Super Eagles missing successive FIFA World Cup tournaments and the Super Falcons suffering a disappointing early exit from the Women's Africa Cup of Nations.

The former Sokoto State Football Association chairman believes the continued presence of the current NFF leadership is difficult to justify given the results recorded by Nigeria's national teams.

Bako did not hold back in his assessment of the federation's leadership, describing its record as one of “monumental failures.”

He argued that previous military administrations would have reacted much more decisively to such a sequence of disappointing results.

“I imagine the pain of the country and a football-loving President Tinubu that the Super Eagles have not qualified for the FIFA World Cup since 2018,” Bako said.

He recalled his involvement in the campaign for greater African representation at the World Cup during his time with NTA's Mastersports programme.

“I was the producer of NTA ‘Mastersports’ in 1992 and galvanised the fight for FIFA to increase Africa’s slots from 2 to 5. We qualified for the first time in 1994!”

However, he contrasted that achievement with Nigeria's current struggles.

“32 years later, we can’t qualify for the 2022 and 2026 World Cups.”

Bako argued that the Super Falcons had struggled to convince throughout the tournament.

“We simply did not play well; we scraped through the whole tournament unconvincingly,” he said.

Another major part of Bako's criticism centred on the NFF's relationship with the Federal Government and the recurring warnings that government intervention could lead to FIFA sanctions.

Bako dismissed that argument as outdated. “That story line is outdated and totally false,” he declared.

He went further by arguing that Nigeria's recent World Cup failures should be viewed as a consequence of poor football administration rather than government interference.

He added, “Technically, we banned ourselves from the last two World Cups by installing poor leadership.”