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Swedish coach Lars Lagerback is not keen on continuing as the Coach of  the Nigerian Football Team and has turned down an offer for a renewal of  his contract

Lagerback led Nigeria to the World Cup, but despite managing just one point from three games, was offered a fresh four-year deal.

NFF spokesman Robinson Okosun said that the Swede sent in the letter early this week

“He said he was not keen on taking up the offer even though he enjoyed his time in Nigeria,” Okosun said.

Samson Siasia, who led the Under-23 team to silver medal placings at the 2008 Olympic Games and 2005 Under 20 World Cup tournaments, is the favourite to take over.

The proprietor of Bussdor United football club of Port Harcourt, Oscar Igbokwe, has called on the minister of sports, to convene a meeting of sponsors of private football clubs in the country.

Igbokwe,who is also the President of Bussdor group of companies, told sportswriters in Port Harcourt over the weekend that he had written a letter to the minister for an urgent action on the state of football in the country. (more…)

Nigerian cricketers are expected to depart the country on July 15, for a nine-day playing tour of South Africa, ahead of the U-19 Regional Championship qualifiers in Swaziland.

These are the implications of a FIFA ban on Nigeria as compiled by MTNFootball.com

1) None of Nigeria’s teams or clubs will feature in international tournaments for the time the ban is in effect. These will be tournaments organised by FIFA, CAF and even the sub-regional WAFU of which Nigeria’s Amos Adamu is president.

This will also affect friendly matches versus other FIFA members as well as invitational tournaments involving international teams. The immediate competitions to be affected should the Nigerian government stick to its guns are the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, 2011 African youth Championship, 2011 African Junior Championship, 2010 African women’s Championship.

Also, to be affected will be the 2010 CAF Champions League which Heartland have qualified for the group phase, while Enyimba will forfeit their CAF Confederation Cup play-off with Zanaco of Zambia with the first leg due to be played on July 17.

2) Nigeria will be fined heavily for pulling out of competitions they have already qualified, that would be the FIFA Under-20 and Under-17 World Cups for women, as well as the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup.

3) The suspension also means that transfers of players from the domestic league to the international leagues will be suspended.

4) FIFA-graded Nigerian referees will not handle matches outside the country even in next-door Cotonou.

5) Nigeria will be barred from attending coaching and administrative courses, seminars and workshops on account of this ban.

6) FIFA and CAF grants will be forfeited by Nigeria.

7) As a result of the country’s inactivity internationally, Nigeria’s FIFA ranking will plummet to an all-time low. The bigger implication is that when the country finally decide to the FIFA fold, they would have to do a lot more to get back to get within the top 30 in the world.

FIFA rankings are employed to seed teams for major competitions. A low FIFA ranking would work against Nigerian players in a league like the English Premier League because the granting or renewal of a work permit there is based on, among other things, a country’s FIFA ranking.

Frustrated Nigerian players will be forced to change nationality so as to play for other countries. Already, neighbouring countries like Togo and Benin have begun shopping for some promising Nigerian talent.

9) The sponsorship for national teams will equally be put on hold. These sponsorship agreements include those of adidas, Guinness, TomTom, Coca-Cola and Peak Milk.

10) FIFA Goal Project 2 will also be suspended.

11) Nigeria, who have been placed on standby to host the 2012 Nations Cup, will not step in to stage the tournament should Gabon and Equatorial Guinea be found unsuitable to host. South Africa could well replace Nigeria in this regard.

I remember precisely that when Nigeria qualified for the World Cup last year, the Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola took time off in our Monthly Physical Planning Meeting to say that he feared that things might go wrong because there were no preparations. The Governor, himself a football player, and an ardent lover of the world number one sporting event feared that Nigeria may go to South Africa to concede goals that will bring shame to the football loving nation and Africa. Governor Fashola understands that going to the World Cup is no tea party. (more…)

AS Monaco of France youngster, Lukman Haruna is happy at being named Nigeria’s best player in the disbanded Super Eagles’ ill-fated appearance at the World Cup in South Africa.

The youngster is not carried away as he has said was capable of doing a lot more.

Following high ratings by FIFA and independent pundits, the former Golden Eaglets and ex-Flying Eagles skipper admitted that he is excited to be named best among Nigeria’s misfiring lot to the Mundial, but says he aims to put in more effort in order to improve with each passing outing in the green-and-white.

Haruna was one of the surprise inclusions in Nigeria’s 2010 World Cup squad, after three brilliant performances in pre-competition international friendlies, then went on to start against Argentina and Greece.

Using their Castrol Index, FIFA rated Haruna as Nigeria’s best player at the tournament and the youngster says going to the World Cup has made him a better player.

“It’s great for me to play at the highest level of football. Of course, it’s a dream come true and I’m ready to work hard to remain a key member of the Super Eagles for years to come,” he promised.

Millions of Nigerians put aside the rilvary  between the two countries to celebrate with Ghanians on  their historic feat of advancing to the quarter final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the first ever by an African Anglophone country.

Reports reaching the Tide newspaper from Nigeria say shouts of joy erupted across communities in the commercial capital city of Lagos after the match, which Ghana won 2-1 against hard fighting United States.

‘Fans here celebrated as if the Nigerian national team, Super Eagles have won’, said Vincent Obi, a journalist who resides in Aguda area of the city. Football fan, Innocent Okoronkwo told ‘PANA’ that a particularly excited fan in his Ajegunle neigbourhood declared free drinks for those present at a beer palour where many converged to watch the match.

I will say 75% of the fans at the beer palour were supporting Ghana,” he said, noting that a few rooted for the US. In a rare scene on Lagos roads, several vehicles were seen flying the Ghana flag after the Black Stars victory.

The reports, however said local newspapers – perhaps still too shocked by the Super Eagles early exist- seemed not to share the enthusiasm generated by the victory, as most largely tucked in the report of the victory in their inside pages. One even gave more prominent to the qualification of Uruguay, Ghana’s next opponent – than that of Ghana.

40 years after, Uruguay books quarter final place’ was the main headline on the back page of the leading Guardian newspaper on Sunday. But the Nation newspaper managed to find a space for a tiny headline on the victory on its front page, where it proclaimed: ‘Ghana through to quarter finals.

’ Ghana remains Africa’s hopes in the competition in which five of the six African representatives were eliminated in the first round. Nigeria’s Super Eagles is one of the five African teams that fell by the wayside, after they failed to win even a single match in the group stage.

Captain of  Nigeria’s National Team that put on a floopy performance at the World has said he is not contemplating of retiring from International action yet

According to NFF’s spokesman Ademola Olajire, the ‘Nigeria captain Nwankwo Kanu says he never told anyone that he is calling it a day on international football’.

Since Nigeria’s ouster from the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa, reports have quoted the 33-year old legend as saying that he would retire from the international game.

‘I never told anybody that I was quitting international football. Of course, I remember the question being posed as we left the mixed zone after the match in Durban (against Korea Republic). All I did say was that I would fir st go on a holiday with my family and think over everything. It would be my decision,’ said Kanu.

Olajire’s press release also stated that the Nigerian skipper denied reports that he would not want to work with the present NFF board.

According to the press release, Kanu said: ‘That report is mischievous. I never spoke to anyone about not wanting to work with the Federation. My brother, I have been in the national team for the past 16 years and I know th e difference between white and black. The present NFF leadership has done a lot; they have been committed, energetic and forthright, and have sho wn they have the interests of the players at heart.

‘Surely, there is room for improvement as we go forward. But life is about learning and putting those lesions into use for future good’.

If he musters the will and courage to continue, and is around for the next World Cup, Kanu will be on line to be only the second African player to feature at four FIFA World Cup finals, after Cameroonian Rigobert Song set that record in the ongoing finals in South Africa.

Kanu previously played at the 1998 and 2002 finals, after narrowly missing the 1994 edition, and was unlucky not to have made it a third straight finals as the Eagles, captained by Austin Jay Jay Okocha, could not muster what was needed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has agreed to visit Nigeria for seven days to educate Nigerian coaches on modern tricks of the round leather game and the best way to identify hidden talents in the country

This was the outcome of his meeting with Nigerian officials on Thursday at the Redisson Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg.

Wenger met with the Nigerian representatives led by the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Alhaji Ibrahim Bio.

Others at the meeting were the Director-General of the NSC, Patrick Ekeji, and a former skipper of the Super Eagles, Austin Okocha.

After the meeting, Ekeji told our correspondent that the deliberations went well with Wenger.

Ekeji said, “Wenger is passionate about Nigerian football and he believes we can do better in the future if we work towards that.

“He has agreed to be with us to give our coaches useful tips to help our young players.

Football development is vital and we just have to embrace it.

“We know that Wenger is a coach that grooms young players and that is what we are looking at in Nigeria at the moment.”

Wenger however urged Bio to contact the management of Arsenal for a convenient time that will be fixed for the programme.

“The meeting was okay and I believe we can work it out soon,” he said.