Randy Waldrum, the head coach of the Super Falcons, and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have been engaged in a verbal spat for the past week. There is a power struggle that could harm Nigeria’s chances in the soon-to-be-held FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The 66-year-old American had expressed his “frustration” with the team’s “lack of support” as they got ready for the competition.
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Waldrum said the Super Falcons were “not prepared the way we need to be” with the World Cup just a few weeks away, and that admission inflamed the NFF glass house.
Waldrum’s rant was brushed aside by NFF communications director Ademola Olajire as the coach “shooting his mouth off” in retaliation.
Olajire said the confession was an attempt by the Americans to disguise his “deficiency”.
The raging exchanges have stirred fear among Nigerian football fans who believe the focus should be on World Cup, billed to kick off on July 20.
There were a lot of claims and retorts in the dispute, and below are some of the issues at the crux of the clash between Waldrum and the NFF.
In a chat on the ‘Sounding Off on Soccer’ podcast, Waldrum complained about the Falcons’ abysmal preparation for the upcoming World Cup.
Nigeria had qualified for the competition in July 2002 and was placed in Group B alongside Australia, Canada and the Republic of Ireland — some of the best teams in the world.
Wadrum said despite the Falcons picking up the World Cup qualification ticket early, NFF failed to utilise the extended window of preparation for the competition.
He accused the federation of cancelling the team’s final training camp without explanation, which impacted his selection of players for the tournament.
“We have qualified for the tournament way back in the springtime. You would have hoped that we would have used that time to prepare, but unfortunately, that has not really been the case,” Waldrum said.
“We were supposed to have a camp in Nigeria for some days before departing for Australia, but for whatever reason, the federation cancelled. So I could not double-check the players or invite new legs into the team, so I had to just pick the final 23 players based on the last camp.
“I know we are not prepared the way we need to be. [I have] been very frustrated with the federation and the lack of support we have got at different levels.”
