Football problems in Nigeria beyond coaching – Amokachi

Former Super Eagles of Nigeria and Everton striker, Daniel Amokachi has stated that Nigeria’s footballing problem is being coaching.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after their early exit from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in January this year.

Following the failure to get to the World Cup, the team’s technical adviser Augustine Eguavoen and his assistants were sacked by the Nigeria Football Federation .

On Thursday, April 14, the NFF announced new assistant coaches for the team with the position of head coach still vacant.

But Amokachi says changing coaches isn’t the solution opining that larger structural issues affecting football in the country need attention.

“Focusing too much on the coaching is like building a house from the roof downwards instead of starting with the right foundation and build upwards,” Amokachi told BBC Sport Africa.

“Do we have a solid developmental programme for our young footballers, a proper long-term plan for our national teams or develop a football identity for the game in our country?

“I am a product of the Nigerian league. But have we sorted all the issues around our domestic game, from players welfare to the lack of television rights and the chaos around the organisation of local football.

“I said something about our over-reliance on Nigerian footballers in the diaspora which was misreported in the media.

“My point is that when you consistently rely on players developed and trained by other nations to play for you, then you have seriously failed in your important role of building the future stars.

“There are bigger issues that have long bedevilled the Nigerian game and until we fix them, we will just be moving in a circle.”