In a pivotal week for Nigerian football, the conversation has shifted from raw talent on the pitch to the structures that guide it, and at the center of it all sits Nigerian Football Governance and Management. As AFCON 2025 in Morocco draws near, high performance targets, financial questions, leadership transitions, and league integrity have combined to test the nation’s football institutions in public view.
It is not only about the Super Eagles and their form. It is about the Nigeria Football Federation, the National Sports Commission, and how decisions made in boardrooms ripple into locker rooms and match venues. The stories emerging now provide a revealing snapshot of the strengths and strains within the system.
Pressure and promise as AFCON 2025 approaches
The countdown to AFCON 2025, which begins on 21 December in Morocco, now carries a clear mandate. Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko, has told the country that the Super Eagles must reach at least the semi final. He framed this expectation around Nigeria’s runners up finish at the last tournament and the need to restore confidence after the missed 2026 World Cup.
Dikko’s message leaves little room for ambiguity.
We were runners up last time. The bar has been raised. The team must at least match that achievement, if not surpass it
The call is as much about pride as it is about progress, and Dikko added that head coach Eric Chelle has the support he needs to deliver a strong, coordinated tournament.
He also appealed for unity, stressing that preparation must be collective and free of distractions.
The players, coaches, and administrators must all work as one. Nigeria succeeds only when everyone is pulling in the same direction
In a year colored by questions over management and money, this plea lands with added weight.
Balancing ambition and rebuilding
Inside the NFF, the technical committee has set a semifinal target as well, and former African Footballer of the Year Victor Ikpeba has described it as realistic and necessary. He has urged honesty about Nigeria’s current transition, noting that the tournament should be a foundation for rebuilding a stronger national team, not a stage for impossible demands.
Ikpeba’s argument is a useful counterweight to the rhetoric of ambition. He believes modest targets can manage expectations and reduce pressure on a squad still undergoing structural adjustments. In practical terms, a semifinal places the team among the continent’s best while acknowledging that consistency and competitiveness must be rebuilt step by step.
That tension between a high bar and a measured rebuild is the heart of the moment. It reflects a broader truth that results and reform must move together, especially after the turbulence that followed the failed World Cup qualification.
Unpaid wages and the test of administrative will
If performance is the headline, financial management is the subtext. The NFF has moved to calm public concern by assuring that head coach Eric Chelle will be paid his outstanding wages before AFCON. Reports indicated he is owed three months salary and several bonuses, a situation that prompted scrutiny of the federation’s processes.
A senior NFF official said the delay was due to financial processing, not neglect, adding that Chelle had previously received advance payments and that the owed salaries have already been approved, with final disbursement awaiting treasury clearance. It was also revealed that the National Sports Commission covered Chelle’s salary until October through a special presidential fund, a temporary measure that has since expired, returning responsibility to the NFF.
Chelle has been a calming presence. He remains unbeaten in competitive matches during regulation time, and his demeanor has drawn praise even as administrative issues persist. That steadiness is valuable currency, and it will be tested in Morocco where clarity and trust, not just tactics, often determine margins.
Leadership questions after the Troost Ekong exit
Nigeria’s leadership picture shifted when William Troost Ekong, the 2023 AFCON Player of the Tournament, stepped away from international football. His decision arrived after the failed 2026 World Cup bid and followed a period marked by a players strike over unpaid bonuses before the playoff against DR Congo. The timing, so close to AFCON, ignited debate and suspicion.
Former Super Eagles goalkeeper Peterside Idah accused the NFF of mishandling the situation and claimed the federation pushed the captain out. Idah’s allegation is sharp, he called it absolute madness that such a key player would retire on the eve of a major tournament and said he believed bad leadership forced the outcome. In parallel, it has been reported that Troost Ekong said he was not forced to retire, and the NFF publicly hailed his service with a glowing tribute.
The conflicting narratives underscore the fragility of trust during transitions. The practical needs are clear, senior figures like Wilfred Ndidi, Victor Osimhen, and Alex Iwobi are seen as capable of carrying leadership duties. The emotional reality is more complex, replacing a captain is not only a tactical adjustment, it is a cultural and psychological task inside the camp.
Officiating credibility and the domestic leagues at a crossroads
Beyond the national team, the NFF executive committee has confronted a different crisis, a decline in refereeing standards across the NPFL, NNL, NWFL, and NLO. Reports and assessments from match venues point to poor decision making, inadequate match control, and controversial calls that have fueled anger among clubs and fans.
The concerns do not stop at competence. The committee cited alleged collusion between referees and club officials and deliberate manipulation of matches to favor specific teams. The federation has warned that tougher actions are coming, with integrity in officiating labeled a top priority as the season moves forward.
In a sobering detail, no Nigerian referee has been selected for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, the continent’s biggest football showpiece. That omission is both symptom and signal, it highlights how domestic standards intersect with continental recognition, and it raises urgent questions about training, evaluation, and accountability.
How the NFF says it will respond
- Disciplinary actions for poor officiating and proven misconduct,
- Expanded retraining and stricter match monitoring,
- New evaluation systems to restore professional standards.
For reforms to stick, transparency will be essential. Publishing clear criteria, sharing performance reviews in aggregate, and enforcing consequences consistently would signal that the game’s guardians are serious about standards. The leagues need to trust whistles again, without that trust, even good football struggles to be believed.
The bigger picture for Nigerian football governance
Take the week’s stories together and a pattern emerges. A national mandate for excellence, a pragmatic rebuild, a financial promise to the head coach, an emotional captaincy vacuum, and a crackdown on refereeing, all these threads converge on the same tapestry, governance that must be coherent, credible, and consistent.
At times, Nigerian football thrives on improvisation and spirit, but sustained success requires institutional alignment. Dikko’s insistence on unity speaks to this reality. Ikpeba’s call for realistic targets serves the same purpose, setting a tempo that allows growth while pushing for performance.
The financial clarification around Chelle is a necessary step, though the real test is prompt delivery. The debate around Troost Ekong is a reminder that communication can be as important as compensation. And the officiating stance is an overdue intervention that should be tracked with measurable benchmarks and timelines.
What success would look like in Morocco
A semifinal finish would meet the publicly stated bar and match the NFF committee’s target. It would suggest that the Super Eagles have stabilized after a chaotic stretch, and that Chelle’s methods, coupled with the players’ AFCON experience, are coalescing. It would also buy time for structural reforms to deepen, including sponsorship pipelines and referee development.
Even so, a tournament is only part of the equation. Sustained excellence depends on the ecosystem around the team. If financial obligations are met on schedule, if leadership voices are clear and aligned, and if league officiating becomes more trustworthy, then the national team’s performances will rest on firmer ground.
The flip side is obvious. If promises lag and controversies multiply, pressure will crowd the runway before takeoff. Results and reform are linked, and AFCON tends to amplify whatever a federation brings into it, cohesion or conflict.
Fans, faith, and the final stretch
Nigerian football is nothing without its supporters, and Dikko’s plea for unity is aimed as much at the stands as at the touchline. The Super Eagles, even in transition, still command belief. The path to Morocco is an opportunity to turn difficult lessons into a disciplined surge, one that honors the players, the coaches, and the fans who carry the anthem in their throats.
In this moment, the storyline is bigger than tactics or formations. It is about institutions that must demonstrate reliability, about leaders who must set clear expectations, and about a team that must play with clarity and calm. If all those elements align, the semifinal target will not feel like a decree, it will feel like a destination within reach.
From Abuja’s meeting rooms to training pitches and league grounds, the mandate is as simple as it is demanding, get the structure right so the football can flourish. As AFCON 2025 begins, Nigeria has a chance to show that governance can be a platform, not a headline, and that the Super Eagles can carry both the weight of expectation and the hope of a nation.
