By Ben Efe 20.11.2025
Former Super Eagles captain and midfield great John Obi Mikel has called on the board of the Nigeria Football Federation to be sacked after Nigeria was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup.
Mikel who speaking on his Obi One podcast said if the present occupiers of the NFF boardroom are not shown the exit door, Nigeria will also fail to qualify for the 2030 World Cup.
“I said it: if we do not qualify for the World Cup, the NFF and the entire board have to go. They have to go, because you can’t keep repeating the same mistakes every time and think something is going to change. It’s just going to be the same results. If you have the same people doing the same things and failing all the time, and you give them another chance, no,” said the AFCON 2013 winner and two-time world cuper.
He said Nigeria’s ouster from the 2026 world soccer fiesta was a big humiliation to a country with enormous resources.
“A disaster has happened—a big disaster. Let’s not make a mistake about it. It is a big disaster, a humiliation to the nation, internationally.
” Two World Cups in a row, and we call ourselves the giants of Africa? Let’s not deceive ourselves. We are no longer the giants of Africa when it comes to football because the giants of Africa should be in the World Cup.”