Nigeria Football Rocked as NFF Leaders Resign Amid National Team Crisis

by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath

image Nigeria Football Rocked as NFF Leaders Resign Amid National Team Crisis
Nigeria’s football crisis took another dramatic turn in the past week, with the country’s top football administrators resigning and leaving the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in a serious leadership crisis just weeks before its scheduled elections. Check out the updated story below:
Enjoying SportyTrader content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account!

Mass Resignations Leave NFF Reeling Ahead of Elections 

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is facing a major leadership crisis after President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, and the federation’s entire executive committee resigned ahead of the scheduled elections in the coming weeks. 

The NFF confirmed the departures on August 27, attributing the leadership changes to mounting public dissatisfaction with the performances of Nigeria’s national teams, while Gusau said he chose to resign in order to pave the way for wider reforms within Nigerian football. 

These resignations follow the Super Eagles and Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for the 2026 and 2027 World Cups, respectively!

Gusau had been at the helm of the NFF since September 2022 and was just 34 days short of completing his four-year tenure when he stepped down. The mass resignations have now created serious uncertainty around the federation’s immediate future. 

Questions now remain over how the NFF will navigate the transition and whether the planned election will proceed according to the existing timetable on September 27. Gusau’s exit represents one of the biggest leadership changes Nigerian football has seen in recent years. 

Governing Body Visit Nigeria Over Leadership Crisis

Amid conflicting reports, it is understood that the proposed restructuring of the NFF is still awaiting final approval from football’s governing body, despite a high-level meeting between Nigerian football officials and Gianni Infantino. 

The meeting was held on September 1, with the Nigerian delegation being led by National Sports Commission Chairman Shehu Dikko. NSC Director General Bukola Olapade, Amaju Pinnock, Emmanuel Ikpenme and Okey Obi were also in attendance. 

According to reports, one of the proposals being considered is the establishment of a normalisation committee to run the NFF during a period of wider reform. The NFF thereafter confirmed that further engagements would take place to refine a roadmap outlining short-, medium-, and long-term measures.