Ladipo blames NFF for Super Eagles, U-23 poor outings, wants Salisu Yusuf sacked

By Ifeanyi Eduzor
Following the poor results posted by the Super Eagles and the U-23 national team, President General of Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Dr Rafiu Ladipo has put the blame on the door steps of the football house accusing them of not doing enough to move the country’s football forward.
The Super Eagles a fortnight ago scandalously lost 0-1 to Guinea Bissau in an AFCON qualifying game in Abuja while their U-23 counterparts got beaten by Guinea Conakry 2-0 in Rabat, Morocco in the second leg of their final qualifying fixture for the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations and Ladipo believes the poor results would have been avoided if the football house has taken the issue of developmental football serious.
“It’s unfortunate that Nigeria is now struggling against teams that we were walloping in the past and the most unfortunate thing is that these teams now come here to beat us which is the highest disgrace and we at the Supporters Club are sad about it.
” The NFF must take the blame because they refuse to embrace developmental programme. How can one explain that we went to the World Cup in 1994, won Olympic gold in 1996 not talking about Nations Cup which we’ve won three times and the various age grade competitions and suddenly everything went down which is an indication that something is tactically wrong with our football.
“Part of the problem is that the NFF thought they will be using the same crop of players all the time without realizing that age is catching up with many of them and there is no proper replacement.
Ladipo was also of the opinion that Nigeria should start believing in local coaches and liaise with National Institute For Sports to produce quality coaches who will be saddled with the responsibility of identifying talents that abound in the country even as he recommended the sack of Coach Salisu Yusuf for outliving his usefulness.

100 athletes to represent Nigeria at World University Games
Ifeanyi Eduzor
About 100 students from various Universities across the country will represent Nigeria at this year’s World University Games holding in China in July this year.
They will participate in seven sports namely; athletics, swimming, badminton, judo, taekwondo, table tennis and tennis.
According to the Acting Secretary General of NUGA, Chidiebere Ezeani, In order to enhance ‘Team Nigeria’ outing at the games, the Nigerian University Games Association ( NUGA) has appointed Red Sapphire and Integrated Marketing Communication to source for sponsorship and partnership for the country’s contingent ahead of the Games.
He said the deal with the company will add value to the team as they prepare for the student’s global sporting event noting that they’re are expected to coordinate media, public relations and marketing strategy for NuGA’s participation at the Games billed for Chengdu, China.
Over 10,000 athletes from more than 170 countries are expected to compete for honours at this year’s edition of the World University Games.
The Games is a multi- sport event that takes place every two years bringing together student athletes from around the world to compete for honours in a variety of sports.
Meanwhile, as part of preparation for the Games, the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities comprising of 221 Federal, State and Private Nigerian Universities led by Professor Yakubu Ochefu were hosted by the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun in Abuja where he promised them that Nigerian contingent will be treated to the best form of Chinese hospitality during the Games.