Nigerian Football Needs Reset, Credible People in Charge – Amunike

Emmanuel Amunike has urged the decision-makers in the administration of football to tackle the dwindling fortunes of the Sport in Nigeria with sincerity.

Amunike joined the calls for a complete reset of the structure that administers the game in Nigeria with a view to rebuilding and establishing a sustainable system that allows growth for all.

The former Nigerian Star, who also coached Nigeria’s U17 and U20 teams, shared his view on the challenges and way forward after the string of poor results by Nigerian National Teams, the most recent being Salisu Yusuf’s U23 Eagles.

“We never asked ourselves, what are we doing to help our players, it is very easy for you to assemble players in Abuja and put them in a hotel; eating and training, but there are things that will aid these players to grow,” Amunike offered during his appearance on Brila FM’s “Big Interview”.

“Our coaches in question, are we doing any programs that will help our coaches to grow?”

“We fail to deal with the issues in terms of being objective in our discussions and being realistic in our analyses, but we tend to look at our coaches like, okay, so because Salisu has failed, does that make him a bad coach? No, I don’t think he is.

“But the reality is that as a nation, creating football programs in all parts of Nigeria, not only in Abuja or Lagos, that creates a pathway where a young player in the remotest area of Nigeria, that has the ability and ambition to play football should have hope that if he continue to work hard, there will come a time when he’ll find his way, and play for the national team; represent my country,”

“So these are things we need to bring on board and put in our plan, and look at people that are credible in terms of implementing those things and then set a timeline for said program; it could be five years. We decide to plan and for five years we decide where we want our football to be.”

“It is unfortunate, that the next generation would not have the privilege to be at the Olympics, but of course, probably what we are going through now is just a time for us to reflect and look at the areas that we are not getting it right and look at the areas where we need to enhance so that we can be in the right position.”