Former Super Eagles midfielder John Mikel Obi has expressed his disappointment with the Nigerian Football Federation and revealed that the entire board must be disbanded if the country fail to qualify for the World Cup.
Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2026 FIFA World Cup was dashed on Tuesday evening after they were held to a 1-1 draw by South Africa at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.
Calvin Bassey header in the 44th minute canceled out a William Troost-Ekong’s own goal, which had given Bafana Bafana the lead in the 25th minute.
After eight rounds of matches, the three-time African champions are third on the standings with just 11 points, with their hopes of qualifying looking slim.
South Africa top Group C with 17 points, while Benin Republic are second with 14 points.
Nigeria also missed out on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after losing out in the playoffs to arch-rivals Ghana.
Only the first position in each group is assured of an automatic spot in next year’s event while the four highest-ranked second-placed teams qualify for a continental playoffs.
The winner of the playoffs then goes on to play an intercontinental playoff before finally qualifying for the tournament.
What Mikel Obi said about Nigeria’s poor campaign
Speaking in his podcast, the ex-international was unhappy with the state of things and criticized the Nigerian Football Federation for their part in the country’s dismal campaign.
“The people that run our football back home in Nigeria need to be accountable for what’s happening. They have no clue what it’s like to get a top football player that plays in Europe to be able to perform”, he revealed.
“Yes, I’ll blame the players but it starts from the top. What do you do as a Federation to make the players perform the way they perform with their clubs?
“They are motivated the way they perform at their football club. Do you make the environment comfortable for them to perform? Do you provide for them what they need to perform?”, the former Nigerian midfielder continued.
“I look at them sometimes, they don’t look motivated because the surrounding and everything around it is not right.
“I was there for so many years, I know what’s going on, and I know how those things can be fixed very easily.
“You need to have the right people running our football in Africa, especially the Nigerian national team”, he concluded.
