THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed a Malian, Eric Chelle, as the head coach of the Super Eagles.
Chelle takes over from the interim manager, Augustine Eguavoen.
The NFF announced Chelle’s appointment in a statement on Tuesday, January 7.
The appointment takes immediate effect as the new gaffer works to qualify Nigeria for the 2026 World Cup.
Chelle, 47, was recommended as the gaffer by the NFF technical and development sub-committee on January 2.
“The Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has endorsed the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee for the appointment of Mr. Éric Sékou Chelle as head coach of Nigeria’s senior men’s national football team, Super Eagles.
“At its meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, January 2, 2025, the NFF Technical and Development Sub-Committee recommended the appointment of the former head coach of Mali’s senior men’s national team as the new head coach of the Super Eagles. This recommendation was endorsed by the NFF Executive Committee on Tuesday, January 7,” the NFF said in a statement.
The new Super Eagles coach is expected to manage the home-based Super Eagles at the 2024 African Nations Championship in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, where Nigeria will compete with 17 other countries from February 1-28.
The Super Eagles B team has commenced training at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, with a strong technical crew at the helm. Led by Daniel Ogunmodede, Fidelis Ilechukwu, and experienced goalkeeper trainer Olatunji Baruwa, who played a key role in the team’s qualifying victories over Ghana, the team is intensifying preparations for the upcoming competition.
The new Super Eagles coach led Mail to a quarterfinal at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals, where he lost to the hosts Ivory Coast on a 2-1 score in extra time.
Born in Cote d’Ivoire to a French father and Malian mother, Chelle was eligible to play for three countries namely France, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire; he chose Mali where he had five caps.
He had also coached clubs such as GS Consolat, FC Martigues, Boulogne, and MC Oran.
Chelle, beyond the upcoming 2024 African Nations Championship, has a challenge of getting Nigerian National team qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
The ICIR reports that Nigeria’s sluggish start to the qualification saw the team failing to win a game in four matches, as they seek to reverse the trend in the remaining six fixtures this year.
With a 2-1 defeat to Benin, draws with Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa, Nigeria remains in fifth position and has just three points out of possible 12.
Rwanda, South Africa and Benin lead the group with seven points each while Lesotho trails with five points.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M