Nigeria To Shift Focus To World Cup Says NFF Boss, Amid Calls For His Resignation

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick has said the country will now shift their focus to qualifying for the 2018 World Cup amid calls for him to resign after the Super Eagles were ousted from AFCON 2017. 

Nigeria under the leadership of Pinnick will not feature for the second straight time at the AFCON after they were outgunned by Egypt in Alexandria on Tuesday night. Egypt are now in pole position to feature at Gabon 2017 after they pipped Nigeria 1-0 to now have seven points. Nigeria are second with two points, while Tanzania are bottom on a point.

Tanzania host Egypt in June and then visit Nigeria in September to conclude Group G after Chad withdrew from the qualifying series. “We are all disappointed we did qualify (for AFCON 2017),” said Pinnick. “The god of soccer did not smile on us. “I believe Nigerians should forgive us for us to move on. “The focus now is to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. “We will keep the Eagles busy during the FIFA friendly windows ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.”

The draw for Russia 2018 will be conducted in June with the qualifying tournament to begin in October. Pinnick’s leadership of the NFF has again been questioned by the latest failure with calls by top officials and fans for him to quit. “Amaju should resign. It’s a shame. If I were him, I wouldn’t need anybody to tell me to throw in the towel after I failed for a second straight time,” said former FCT FA chairman Emma Attah.