By Nicholas Obisike
Some football fans in Aba have called on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to pay greater attention to the development of women’s football and the welfare of female national team players.
The fans made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Aba.
They expressed concern over the gradual decline in women’s football development in the country, warning that it could affect the performance of national teams in the future.
In spite of the declining interest in women’s football, Angela Nwachukwu commended the Super Falcons for their recent victories over Senegal in an international double-header friendly.
She attributed the team’s success to the players’ experience, determination and winning mentality.
Nwachukwu, however, urged the NFF to strengthen grassroots football and make the domestic women’s league more competitive.
According to her, countries such as South Africa and Zambia are making significant progress in women’s football and could challenge Nigeria’s dominance on the continent.
Obialo Mbah said Nigeria’s continued success in women’s football at the continental level was largely due to the presence of professional players in the national team.
He noted that Nigerian women’s clubs had not performed to expectations in continental competitions.
“Our women’s clubs are not meeting expectations, and this is evident in continental club competitions where teams from other countries continue to win titles ahead of Nigerian clubs.
“We should be dominating club football in Africa if the game is truly developing in the country,” he said.
Stella Emem, a student, accused the NFF of not giving women’s football the same level of attention as the men’s game.
She urged the federation to prioritise the welfare of female players and invest more in talent discovery and development.
“We need to continue discovering and developing players if we are to maintain our dominance in women’s football in Africa,” she said. (NAN)