Nigerian football administrators must learn to plan and follow through, says Mutiu Adepoju

With Nigeria’s Super Eagles missing from the Qatar 2022 roster, former international and two-time World Cup participant, Mutiu Adepoju, has argued that success will only happen when there is a solid plan and discipline for the national team and Nigerian football to follow. place

talking in one PREMIUM TIMES Twitter Spaces On Wednesday, Adepoju, popularly known as “Buruburua”, said if Nigeria is not to miss the next World Cup in 2026, the administrators must think long term instead of current thoughts.

“Well, this is not new and we keep saying what else we should do. We know what he had to do and how to do it, which people should do it and when to do it.

“The only thing is that we always procrastinate”, he said, “and we always think that as time goes on we will be fine and everything will be fine.

“You don’t just plan for a year or two. There must be a 10-year plan that we have never done,” he said.

“I remembered when I was in Spain, the team that won the World Cup (in 2010) and the Eurocup, those plans were 10 years old and here in Nigeria we have never done anything like that.

“All other countries like Germany, they made a plan for 10 years, 20 years and followed all these plans. That’s why they’re having success, but we want to stay together for a year and continue working. It is not possible.

“We have to plan for many years and that is why countries are successful. But if we say we want to plan for one or two years, we’re not going anywhere.”

Nigeria qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1994, where Mr. Adepoju played and was part of the 1998 squad that famously beat Spain 3-2.

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Mr. Adepoju continued: “Yes, we have qualified for the World Cup because of talent, but there must be a plan and the plan must be followed. The structure, the emolument for the players and everything has to be in place.

“For example, during the last World Cup qualifiers, I hear that they did not pay the players any financial support. Also the Eagles in Portugal [for Thursday’s friendly game] and those who went there to play. Coaches, their contracts, and players and their bonuses; and you want success?

“If this is not done and everything is not put in, you cannot succeed. That is the main thing we have to tell ourselves and do. If we continue in the same way, we will continue to get the same result.”

While the manager talked a lot about planning, he also indicated that the local league would need a new look to take advantage of the wealth of talent at its disposal.

“Our league must be structured, it must be active every time, because if the clubs are professional we will get out of it, if there is talent and organization, everything will work.

“But if they depend on the players who are away… We have talent here too, but if everything works at home and away, we will have a way to get it from all sides. Nigerians or foreign players as well and we will bring them together and everything will work.

“Before then, our league has to work, it has to be our standard league, it has to be our professional league, because not everyone is going to go abroad to play and if it’s a professional league, it will also feel easy.

“With what is happening now, our domestic players cannot compete with foreign players.

“The professionalism of the clubs, the structure of the league and the clubs. Everything must be followed to the letter and there must be no favoritism. The officials and everything should work and we should get sponsors and football should be active on TV so that it is attractive to people.’

The Eagles lost to the Black Stars on away goals in the final stage of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Before the disappointment, they had qualified for the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018 editions, and were second-round runners-up in 1994, 1998 and 2014.