The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says it’s not true that head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has been offered a whopping $100,000 monthly salary to remain as coach of the Super Eagles, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Reports in recent days say the NFF have offered the coach fresh terms to keep him at his job for a further two years, with one year left to run on his present deal.

Chelle is demanding $150,000 a month, and reports went viral during the week that the NFF through the National Sports Commission (NSC) has proposed a salary of $100,000 a month to the Malian, who has a new agent.

A source at the NFF said those reports were wide off the mark as the NFF and the NSC have not discussed on the next move, after receiving the contract demand of Chelle.

He however said a meeting is expected to happen before the upcoming four team tournament in Turkey, or better still in June when they will be involved in a series of friendly games.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle didn’t include any player from the Nigeria domestic league in his squad for the upcoming four team friendly tournament in Turkey, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Nigeria will take part in a four team tournament in Turkey, Involving Iran, Jordan and Costa Rica. It was originally billed to take place in Jordan but was moved due to the escalation of violence in the Middle East.

Super Eagles won’t be at the world cup, but will use the tournament to begin the second phase of the rebuild of the team under Chelle, who led the team to a third place finish at the AFCON in January.

They will open their campaign at the tournament against Iran on the 27th of March, while Jordan take on Costa Rica in the tournament’s other game.

Per the organiser, the final round of games will be played on the 31st of March, with Nigeria up against Jordan while Iran square up with Costa Rica.

Ahead of the tournament, the coach has already submitted the list of players, we can exclusively reveal that no player in the Nigerian League was called up by the coach, according to our sources.

However, the coach is open to the idea of having some of them in his team in June when they will play some other friendly games.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has handed a first time invitation to a relatively unknown winger playing in the German Bundesliga ahead of their upcoming friendly games.

Nigeria will take part in a four team tournament in Turkey, Involving Iran, Jordan and Costa Rica. It was originally billed to take place in Jordan but was moved due to the escalation of violence in the Middle East.

Super Eagles won’t be at the world cup, but will use the tournament to begin the second phase of the rebuild of the team under Chelle, who led the team to a third place finish at the AFCON in January.

They will open their campaign at the tournament against Iran on the 27th of March, while Jordan take on Costa Rica in the tournament’s other game.

Per the organiser, the final round of games will be played on the 31st of March, with Nigeria up against Jordan while Iran square up with Costa Rica.

Ahead of the tournament, the coach has already submitted the list of players for the tournament and like we exclusively reported he included four new players in the team.

Among them is a winger in the German Bundesliga, who our source say has been on the radar of the coach for a while, but he refused to reveal the identity of the player.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed that they have received the judgement from FIFA throwing away their protest against DR Congo for fielding ineligible players in the world cup qualifiers playoff final in November 2025.

Nigeria protested that several players in the team of DR Congo didn’t pass the constitutional requirements to be termed citizens of DR Congo, as they hold dual nationality which is against their constitution.

FIFA ruled in favour of DR Congo, clearing the way for them to represent Africa at the intercontinental playoff later this month in Mexico, where there will be two tickets to the world cup.

However according to veteran Nigerian journalist Kunle Solaja, what Nigerians thought was a valid case was badly handled by the NFF who filed the protest.

He made this known in his reaction to the judgement in his article for Sportsvillagesquare.com. Below was what he revealed.

“According to the source, the NFF’s complaint was received by FIFA on November 28, 2025, nearly two weeks after the match in Rabat.

Under the Regulations Governing the Preliminary Competition for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, protests regarding player eligibility must follow strict timelines.

Article 8 of the regulations stipulates that any protest must first be communicated to the match commissioner within two hours of the completion of the match, and then followed by a detailed written submission within 24 hours.

The article states:

“Protests regarding the eligibility of players selected for matches in the preliminary competition shall be submitted in writing within two hours of the match and followed by a full written report within 24 hours.”

Because Nigeria’s protest was submitted on November 28 for a match played on November 16, it fell well outside the allowable window.

The source further revealed that the mandatory protest fee of 1,000 Swiss francs, which must accompany such submissions, was also not paid. As a result, the case was not formally processed by FIFA’s judicial bodies.

“The appeal that was widely reported was never actually entertained by the FIFA judicial authorities because it did not meet the procedural requirements,” the source explained, adding that the NFF was formally informed of the situation on March 9, 2026.

It took another week before the body made the decision known, indirectly with a claim of appeal of the judgment.

Under FIFA regulations, a protest must not only meet the deadline but must also include clear reasons, supporting evidence, and the relevant regulatory provisions before the Disciplinary Committee can examine the case.

Because the submission failed to satisfy these procedural conditions, FIFA dismissed the complaint without examining the substance of Nigeria’s allegations regarding player eligibility.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) say they will appeal the decision by FIFA disciplinary committee rejecting their petition against DR Congo for fielding ineligible players in the World Cup qualifiers playoff, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria protested that several players in the team of DR Congo were ineligible for the game, which they won 4-3 on penalties to pick the sole ticket to represent Africa at the intercontinental playoff in Mexico.

The players flouted the constitutional requirements to be a bonafide citizen of DR Congo, as they hold dual nationality which is forbidden and not recognized by the laws of the country.

Confirming the rejection of the petition, the General Secretary of the NFF Dr Sanusi Mohammed said they will appeal the decision, keeping alive the hope that they will get a favourable judgement.

“We have received the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on our petition, but we are not satisfied with the decision, which rejected our petition. I want to assure Nigerians that the NFF has immediately commenced the process of appealing the decision,” said NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) say they will appeal the decision by FIFA disciplinary committee rejecting their petition against DR Congo for fielding ineligible players in the World Cup qualifiers playoff, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria protested that several players in the team of DR Congo were ineligible for the game, which they won 4-3 on penalties to pick the sole ticket to represent Africa at the intercontinental playoff in Mexico.

The players flouted the constitutional requirements to be a bonafide citizen of DR Congo, as they hold dual nationality which is forbidden and not recognized by the laws of the country.

Confirming the rejection of the petition, the General Secretary of the NFF Dr Sanusi Mohammed said they will appeal the decision, keeping alive the hope that they will get a favourable judgement.

“We have received the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on our petition, but we are not satisfied with the decision, which rejected our petition. I want to assure Nigerians that the NFF has immediately commenced the process of appealing the decision,” said NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi.

While some Nigerians will be fine with the decision of Tosin Adarabioyo to commit his international future to Nigeria, the same can’t be said about former captain of the team John Obi Mikel.

Tosin persistently snubbed the chance to represent Nigeria starting from 2018 when he was first approached by former coach Gernot Rohr.

In 2022 he reiterated his desire to progress through the youth ranks of England to the main team, shortly after leading Fulham to promotion to the English Premier League.

Now at Chelsea, where is struggling to get regular run of games and approaching 29 in September this year, he has for the first time openly requested to be a part of the Super Eagles.

Not even in the summer, when he visited Nigeria after winning the club world cup, and was interviewed on national television did he openly admitted like now.

“I have been through the English youth national teams. I was born in London, but I also feel very connected to my Nigerian roots. Last summer I spent my vacation in Nigeria, it’s a wonderful country with a fascinating culture. I followed the Nigerian national team intensively at the last Africa Cup of Nations, they have a fantastic team. It would be a great honour for me to wear the green jersey, but currently my focus is entirely on my goals with Chelsea FC”, he was quoted as saying by Tribuna.

It’s this type of behaviour from players born abroad that Mikel spoke about in an interview last year , where he called out players who have hoped on a call up to another country but later switched to Nigeria at an age, where they know they can’t get into the national team of their choice.

Mikel was speaking in relation to Shola Ameobi, and the case is not that different from that of Tosin. Mikel said such players are not welcome and they should stick and die with their earlier choice.

“Shola had the opportunity to come play for Nigeria. Nigeria were chasing him, the Nigerian FA kept asking Shola to come play for us, and he refused.

“He said, ‘No, I wanna play for England. I am waiting for England, waiting for a call-up from England.’

“Shola gave us a call when he was 29, almost 30, to come and play for us, and then he came and only played one year. That was when the Nigerian FA didn’t have an option because we were going to the World Cup, so, okay, let’s just give him the chance.

“But he waited till he was past his best… then he decided, ‘I wanna come play for Nigeria.’ Those are the things I am talking about. We are not a second option. I didn’t know what the situation was with his family back then, but just an example for me. Players shouldn’t wait, you can’t wait.

While acknowledging that Ameobi is a “lovely fella”, Mikel Obi was forthright in his criticism of the former striker’s decision-making.

“If you make a decision when you’re 17, or 16, stick to it. Don’t give us a call when you are 30 and say, ‘Now, I wanna represent my African roots”.