Says Nigeria’s failure to qualify for Qatar 2022 W/Cup is a wake up call
Former Super Eagles, national U20 and U17 coach, famous for leading the Eaglets to their triumph at the 1993 FIFA U17 World Cup, Fanny Amun is one man who has seen it all in terms of Nigerian football. Apart from being one of the few Nigerians that have handled more than two national teams at various times, Amun rose to the top hierarchy of Nigerian football when he occupied the office of the secretary general of the Nigeria Football Federation and retired as an Assistant Director in the Federal Ministry of Sports in 2007.
His experience on matters concerning sports is vast and he seems to have ready answers to sports-related questions on the tip of his fingers. We sought his opinion on various issues concerning Nigerian football and he was down-to-earth in his responses. He takes no prisoners and says it as it is.
As a patriot, Amun is not happy that the Super Eagles will be missing from the spectacle to be staged in Qatar between November and December this year, the FIFA 2022 World Cup. We asked, where Nigeria got it all wrong not to have qualified for the World Cup.
It might sound strange but there was just nothing wrong as the qualification games were played on fair play through the legitimate FIFA processes which are ever very transparent for every affiliate member to engage in.”
Always frank, at times to a fault, the coach said every other nation had equal right to go to the World Cup. Hear him, “Not a good story line for Nigeria not to have qualified but if l share from the wise position of a former chairman of the NFA, the World Cup ticket is never a birthright of any nation. “Strikingly, it might be a lesson for the future. It was just in same manner Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany; with same avoidable crises, which is a story for another day. It is a wake up call for us to get better prepared in future.”
He traced the travails of the Super Eagles to the sudden changes in the technical crew, particularly as that was effected so close to the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.
“Absolutely,” he said. “There was much pressure on the federation by a group of acclaimed experts that influenced the changes, which l actually saw as interference, if the truth must be said.
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