Former Tremendous Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has launched a stinging criticism of Nigeria’s preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, describing the state of affairs surrounding the nationwide staff as unacceptable and embarrassing.
Talking forward of the match, Mikel mentioned he’s deeply disillusioned that the Nigeria Soccer Federation seems to not have discovered from previous failures, significantly the errors that led to the Tremendous Eagles lacking out on the FIFA World Cup.
“I’m not impressed in any respect with the preparation. After every thing that occurred with the World Cup qualifiers, you’d count on issues to be higher,” Mikel mentioned.
The previous Chelsea midfielder particularly referenced experiences that head coach Eric Chelle is owed excellent salaries, calling the state of affairs damaging to the staff’s picture.
“How do you owe a coach cash at this stage? It’s shameless. This isn’t how severe soccer nations function,” he added.
Mikel warned that administrative distractions can negatively have an effect on gamers’ focus and morale, particularly forward of a significant match like AFCON.
“When points like this are within the public house, it impacts everybody — the coach, the gamers, and even the followers,” he defined.
The previous skipper confused that AFCON ought to have been a possibility for the federation to rebuild belief with Nigerians after current disappointments.
“This was imagined to be the time to save lots of face and present that classes have been discovered. As a substitute, it’s the identical story once more,” Mikel mentioned.
Regardless of his criticism, Mikel reiterated his help for the gamers, urging them to remain targeted and block out distractions.
“The gamers nonetheless have a duty to provide their finest for the nation, regardless of what’s taking place off the pitch,” he famous.
He additionally referred to as on the NFF to behave rapidly and resolve all excellent points earlier than the match begins.
“You’ll be able to’t go into AFCON with unresolved issues. Every little thing have to be sorted now,” he mentioned.
Mikel concluded by urging Nigerians to demand increased requirements from these operating the sport.
“Nigeria deserves higher. Our soccer deserves higher,” he added.
Because the Tremendous Eagles head to Morocco, Mikel’s feedback spotlight rising concern over preparation, governance, and whether or not Nigeria can actually give attention to soccer when administrative points proceed to dominate the dialog.
