Former Nigeria’s captain Kanu has blamed the Nigerian Football Federation for the current state of football
NwankwoKanu, who currently works for Unicef and a Chinese television, has stated that the level of football has declined during recent years because of poor management from the Nigerian Football Federation.
He believes that there is too much instability surrounding the coaches and that the team is not playing in the best condition. In fact, this is a problem that affects African football in general, and it is up to the federation to make changes. He thinks that a change will be needed in the football federation if ever Nigeria wants to raise their football standards again.
Kanu has stated that it was already a bad thing to not be present at Equatorial Guinea in 2015 but now missing Gabon 2017 is a massive blow. He has encouraged the Nigerian Football Federation to make changes to their leadership and to ensure that it is football that is put first and not petty politics.
The former Arsenal player also wants to see more stability when it comes to choosing a manager for the national team. He wants the Nigerian federation to choose a local man to guide the team and not focus on getting a foreigner. He believes that only a local person can understand the requirement of African football and that will be able to get the best from their players.
Years of mismanagement has plagued African football and despite having a great pool of talent they have failed to impress at the international level. The furthest they have gone in the World Cup has been in the quarter-finals. Three teams, Senegal, Ghana, and Cameroon, have managed to accomplish this.
But there are signs that things are changing in some African nations, and Kanu will want this to happen at home.