By Obiako Chris Okechukwu on May 27, 2026

REFLECTING ON SUNDAY OLISEH'S (PRE-FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFIERS) CLARION CALL 

He needs little introduction. In football circles, he stands like a colossus. If you refer to him as a member of Nigeria Football Hall of Fame, you're not far from the truth. One of the top five most successful Nigerian football players, Sunday Oliseh, undoubtedly remains a voice for the beautiful game, regardless his detractors' point of view. 

Having won 63 caps for the Super Eagles; having handdled Nigeria's Senior National Team, the ex-Borrusia Dortmund midfield dynamo rarely speaks like a man begging to be heard. Given his exploits, scorecard and antecedents, every football stakeholder would give him a listening ear - anytime, any day. 

WELL-TIMED ALARM BELLS THAT WERE IGNORED

Thus, when in 2024 - more than a year before we lost the 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals ticket to Congo DR - Oliseh raised an alarm on the treacherous antecedents of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials, he was not mudslinging (as many jesters at the Glass House termed it), he was saying what thousands of lily-livered Nigeria's ex-internationals will only discuss behind closed doors and windows. 

Aside informing Nigerians that successive NFF officials - over the decades - had reneged on agreements over infrastructural development, allowances and bonuses to players, the tactician condemned the ostentatious lifestyle of the football chiefs, accusing them of splurging FIFA and sponsorship grants on personal and institutionalized vanities. The Nigerian football officials' level of extravagance, he warned, erodes public trust in our football administration, and diverts crucial funds away from vital areas such as operational efficiency, infrastructural development and technological innovation. 

WHAT WERE AMAJU PINNICK, IBRAHIM GUSAU AND THEIR ACOLYTES DOING IN KENYA?

For instance, you ask yourself, when the ex-NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, the present NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, the NFF Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi and dozens of their cronies recently gallivanted to Nairobi, Kenya, to meet with, and convince President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to approve Nigeria's hosting of the 2026 CAF Awards, as well as the CAF Congress, where did the hundreds of thousands of dollars in flight tickets, hotel bills and conviviality come from?

Yet, while the NFF chiefs jet through cottony clouds in first class compartments of prominent airlines; while they cruise, sometimes in chattered private jets; while they unwind in five-star hotels only one grass (football) pitch suffers the brunt of all major matches (FIFA World Cup Finals qualifiers, CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup, etc.).

Having said that, why such a meeting (with Mr. President) didn't take place in Abuja or Lagos hasn't stopped amazing Nigerians, especially football stakeholders. 

LIKE LEOPARDS, SUCCESSIVE NFF BIG WIGS CAN NEVER SHED THEIR SPITS 

To further hit the nail on the head, the former Ajax star lamented an unsettling incident which not only shattered Nigeria's chances of making global waves in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals in Japan/Korea, but put a cog in the wheel of the careers of thousands of Nigerian footballers. 

According to the ex-Super Eagles skipper, before a ball was kicked during the qualifiers for the Mundial in 2002, members of the Super Eagles sat on a round table, and had a memorandum of understanding with the NFF hierarchy on the sharing formula for the FIFA largesse accruing from the FIFA World Cup Finals ticket: It was 60 percent to NFF, 40 percent to the players. Lo and behold, when the Super Eagles players delivered the ticket, the NFF big wigs shifted the goal post. And in a bid to silence any daring or warring opposition, they sacked the captain, Oliseh, his assistant, Finidi George, and scores of players they referred to as 'oppressors'. As a result, Nigeria went to the FIFA World Cup Finals in Japan/Korea with a depleted squad, paving the way for a chaotic and calamitous outing.

Source DailySports Nigeria

Posted May 27, 2026

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