A Kenyan journalist covering the ongoing Championship of African Nations (CHAN 2024), Ben Ahenda has heaped all blame on the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and their umbrella body for the country’s poor show at the competition, while stressing that Super Eagles’ coach, Eric Sekou Chelle should be spared all criticism being hurled at him.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sports247 at Nigeria’s Group D venue in Zanzibar, made possible with corporate support from Showtime, a leading brand in football promotions, Ahenda averred that Chelle can only operate with what the league offers him.
The veteran journalist, who works with the world-renowned Standard Media Group of Kenya, added that the NPFL’s higher authority and governing body for the round leather game, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should also be held accountable for the sloppy show seen from the country’s CHAN 2024 squad.
Ahenda declared emphatically, “Coaches should not be blamed for management of football in a country. The management of football – not only in Nigeria, but also in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the rest of the world – should be blamed on the national federations.”
He then carefully outlined the reasons why he insists that the NFF and NPFL should be blamed for the CHAN Eagles’ woes instead of Chelle; tops of which is that the coach can only pick players who are available in the league.
Ahenda reiterated, “The coach only selects players who are in the national league in Nigeria. So, those blaming the coach for the dismal performance of the team should tell us or tell the country the factors that make them say so.
“From the word go, Nigeria was struggling to play in the field. Meaning, even if the coach is the best, once the league gives him weak players, there’s no magic the coach can do to win matches.”
The soft-spoken media guru, who picked his words carefully and slowly, concluded with a view that Nigeria would have done better versus Senegal and Sudan, against which they lost 1-0 and 4-0 respectively, if Chelle had competitive players available from the NPFL in his team.
“The competitiveness of a league gives a coach the best players. When he gets competitive players, they will compete well, and they will win matches,” Ahenda submitted.
Sports247 can report further that Ahenda’s verdict is bound to ruffle many feathers in Nigeria, as his is the first swipe holding the football governing body responsible for the CHAN Eagles’ woes, while many other observers have been slamming either the players or their coach for the misfortune in Zanzibar.
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