Former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Secretary-General Fanny Amun has called for sweeping reforms in Nigerian football, warning that the country’s persistent failures cannot be blamed solely on players and coaches. Amun, who chaired the six-member fact-finding committee set up to investigate the recent poor performances of Nigeria’s national teams, said the exercise exposed deep-rooted weaknesses in the administration and governance of the sport.
The former national team coach argued that football administrators must accept responsibility for the performance of the teams they oversee, insisting that Nigeria’s football crisis goes beyond what happens on the pitch. He said the sport would continue to struggle unless its administrative structure was redesigned to promote accountability, competence and effective oversight.
Amun backed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s call for “total reform” in the sports sector, saying the state of Nigerian football makes such intervention necessary. His comments followed the disappointing performance of the Super Falcons at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and Nigeria’s subsequent failure to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Amun also criticised what he described as a failure by some football administrators to understand the boundaries between their responsibilities and those of government sports authorities. He said the National Sports Commission (NSC) should focus on policy formulation, direction and oversight, while football federations should operate within their administrative and regulatory mandates.
“When you are engaging any of these board members or Congress, ask them: what is the meaning of the oversight function and the contribution to policy?” Amun said. “The National Sports Commission is to formulate policies, guide it through, make sure they are not violated, and have an oversight function.”