Amaju Pinnick, the president of the Nigeria Football Federation, has unveiled his plans for the future of Nigerian football in the upcoming year.
In 2019, Pinnick joined the FIFA Executive committee and overcame allegations of corruption, consolidating his influence in Nigerian football. He is optimistic about the growth of Nigerian football in 2020.
Pinnick, celebrating Nigeria’s third-place finish in the AFCON 2019 and the improved performances of the Super Eagles, has disclosed that the focus in 2020 will be on the Super Eagles’ qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as the Super Falcons’ qualifiers for the 12th edition of the Women Africa Cup of Nations. The U17 and U20 girls’ teams will also be gearing up for their respective FIFA World Cup finals.
In a statement to reporters on December 31st, Pinnick emphasized the NFF’s commitment to youth development programs, including the NFF/Zenith Bank Future Eagles Programme. He stressed the need to produce and nurture top talents who can represent the nation with distinction in various championships.
“Teams representing Nigeria in international matches and competitions will be told in no uncertain terms that they are expected to win, not just participate. The era of simply being there to participate is long gone.”
The draw for the qualifying campaign of the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals will be conducted in Egypt in January 2020, featuring 10 groups of four teams each. Only the winner from each group will proceed to play five home-and-away matches to determine Africa’s representatives in Qatar.