FIFA Talent Development Scheme: Nigeria on the right path to greater glory, says Jibril
Photo : The 2024 Class of U-15 players during their two-match tour of Morocco.
The coordinator of the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) in Nigeria, Nasiru Jibril, has stated that the establishment of the talent development pathway has had a positive impact in Nigeria since its introduction in 2023.
Following the December 2023 workshop which had a representative from each State of the Federation in attendance, the NFF swung into action last year with a scouting program across ten different states of the country to unearth potential superstars of the game.
Jibril said that the scheme, which seeks to create a sustainable legacy for long-term player development and maximising the opportunities provided, with the aim of helping member associations reach their full potential and ensuring that all talented players are given the chance to be discovered and develop, has been considerably successful.
“Without any gainsaying, I will say that the TDS is the best thing to have happened to player-discovery and development in this country in a long while.
“Now that FIFA has recalibrated the FIFA U-17 World Cup for both the boys and the girls to be annual events, countries will need players from the ages of 13 and 14 playing together for some time before they’ll eventually get to U-17 level.
“After watching our U-15 boys play against Morocco in the recent friendlies in Rabat, I am convinced that the TDS is a program that is viable and achievable.
“The FIFA TDS is really important for Nigeria and I think when you have U-17 AFCON that will now take place every year, if you don’t have a TDS, it’s really going to be a mammoth task for coaches of the U-17 teams.
Jibril, himself a former Nigeria U-17 international who later won a number of caps for the senior men’s team, added: “I believe that with the TDS and the periodic campings that we have had, and with the fact that we are keeping firmly in the frame the players we already have.
“We are not only on the right path to recovering our past glories in youth tournament, but we will perform much better in the years to come. The scheme will help us a lot, especially in eradicating the ugly incidence of age-cheating.
“What we need to do is to enable more international exposure for our U-15 teams, by finding a way to send these kids to camp and play matches outside the country, in order for them to garner considerable experience of playing international matches at a young age.”
Following the zonal scouting program, three phases of national camping exercises were organized, with 48 players called up out of the pool discovered from the scouting program.
From this number, all the players called up to camp are now in the Federation’s official database, created, using the Google forms, so that the handlers of the team can fall back to it and find any player they desire, whenever the need arises, according to Jibril.
He also revealed that the U-15 team that went on the trip to Morocco will be promoted to the U-16 level, so as to have simultaneous camps running for both the U-16 and the U-15 teams, when the FIFA TDS program for the year 2025 resumes.
