Nigeria’s sports authorities have agreed in principle on a new contract for Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle, while also handing the Malian tactician the additional responsibility of managing the national Under-23 team as part of a long-term football development strategy.
The decision was reached during a high-level meeting held on Tuesday at the headquarters of the National Sports Commission (NSC) in Abuja.
Those in attendance included NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko, NSC Director-General Bukola Olopade, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Ibrahim Gusau, NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, and Chelle himself.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Dikko disclosed that discussions on the coach’s future had been concluded, with the NFF expected to complete the formal documentation.
“It’s a new contract and a new remuneration which I think the NFF will do the necessary to now be able to finalise it,” Mr Dikko said.
“But I think I can confirm to you, we have agreed on a new term sheet with the coach, and the NFF will put it on paper. But I think we have agreed on something with the coach about his remuneration.”
The NSC is working hard in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda
The NSC chairman said the improved package would also cover Chelle’s assistants and include performance benchmarks.
“We’re going to also take care of his assistants who are helping him, and there are other benchmarks that we have put on the table. And I’m sure the coach was very, very excited about it.”
New role for Chelle
Perhaps the biggest outcome of the Abuja meeting is the decision to appoint Chelle as head coach of the national Under-23 team, popularly known as the Dream Team.
The move aims to create a unified technical philosophy for the country’s youth and senior national teams.
“So on that aspect, we also agree with the coach that the coach will also take care of the under-23 national team because we can see the young people that are already coming up to the Super Eagles,” Mr Dikko said.
[Credit: Super Eagles X Page]
“Instead of having different ideas, let’s have the same ideas from under-23 to the Super Eagles.”
Under the arrangement, additional technical personnel will support the Under-23 side whenever scheduling conflicts arise.
“If there are clashes in the matches, then the people in our addition will do the matches while they do the Super Eagles,” the NSC boss explained.
“The objective is they have to be constructive, actually, now. It is now that we have to start building and bringing in the young ones that will join the team.”
Reviving the Dream Team
Nigeria’s Under-23 side occupies a special place in African football history.
The Dream Team became the first African nation to win Olympic football gold after defeating Argentina at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Nigeria later won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Rio Games, making it the only African country to have won all three Olympic medals in men’s football.
However, the team has struggled in recent years, failing to qualify for the last two Olympic football tournaments in Tokyo and Paris.
Officials believe integrating the Under-23 side with the Super Eagles will help fast-track the development of emerging players and provide a smoother transition to the senior national team.
Building after World Cup disappointment
The discussions also focused on Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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The Super Eagles missed out after losing to DR Congo in the African play-off series. The NFF subsequently challenged the eligibility of some Congolese players, but FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee dismissed the protest, effectively ending Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the tournament.
The setback meant Nigeria missed a second consecutive FIFA World Cup after also failing to qualify for Qatar 2022.
Dikko said the focus must now shift to rebuilding.
“We have the next AFCON. We have the next World Cup. Now we have to start preparing now. We have to start putting our heads together to make sure all the mistakes and all the difficulties that we have suffered would not happen again,” he said.
“The issue is to learn from your mistakes and see how we can make it better.”
Dikko insisted that giving Chelle additional responsibilities was not intended to overburden the coach.
“It’s not about crowding the coach. If you go and ask crowding the coach, he will move up. No. It’s about turning the rebuilding into a foundation.”
The NFF is expected to announce the details of Chelle’s new contract and the expanded technical structure in the coming weeks as preparations begin for the next Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign thereafter.