With four months to the Fifa Women's World Cup in
Canada, there are a lot of questions about the Pinnick-led board's
fairness to the Super Falcons as there's no visible plan in ...
The relative silence at the Glass House over the much-awaited camping
plans for the senior women national team has continued to evoke
concerns among well-meaning Nigerians who feel much should have been put
in place ahead of the 2015 Fifa Women's World Cup.As various male national teams continue to enjoy the bulk of attention with continental engagements and friendly matches, the case of the Super Falcons is clearly unexplainable as other contending nations are already in camp.
Despite poor preparations, Edwin Okon’s ladies showed great character and dexterity against all odds to emerge African champions for the record seventh time in 2014, a feat which attracted no meaningful reward but failed Presidential and NFF promises four months on.
Women football stakeholders have expressed sadness to Goal on the plight of the Nigerian ladies who are expected to do the country proud in Canada come June 5.
Sports journalist, Aderonke Ogunleye-Bello berated the lack of attention to the team by the NFF urging Amaju Pinnick-led board on early preparations for Super Falcons ahead of the World Cup.
She insists the women's team does not deserve the negligent treatment they have been afforded while their male counterparts get all the good things despite the incomparable successes at various levels that the women have had.
“The NFF should please organise as many friendly matches as possible for the women national team, these girls need to start playing competitive matches together early enough,” Ogunleye-Bello told Goal.
“They need to bond together and work as a team, ensure a better location for the team to camp for acclimatisation, let us start early, the World Cup starts in less than five months.
“For example, in all of the Super Falcons' six World Cup appearances, they have made it to the quarter finals once.
“And even won the Africa Cup of Nations seven times [four times more than] the male team, so what we are saying here, they should be celebrated and applauded,” she said.
A sad Super Falcons player, who obliged to speak on anonymity, decried the unfair treatment meted out to her team by the NFF over the neglect of their preparatory programmes arrangements for the upcoming international competition.
"They have not treated us well at all. Look at the home-based [Super] Eagles, they don't have competition at hand but they are busy organising big friendly matches for them, while we that are supposed to play [at the World Cup] have not gotten any at all,” she said.
"For them to organise just a match or two, I don't think this will cost them a quarter of what they use for Super Eagles and they don't have any competition ahead.
"I don't think these home-based players will make the bulk of the Super Eagles even now that they don't have a coach, but they are playing matches. Are they trying to please Nigerians or what? And we that have a competition at hand, they have done nothing.
“We are not even prepared; we don’t even know the next step in our preparation. It is not really nice, we are just sitting and watching ourselves with nothing said and done,” she concluded.
Similarly, an advocacy group, Save Female Football in Nigeria, has said the President of the NFF Amaju Pinnick has no plans for women's football stressing that he has failed to unveil programmes to build upon the women national teams’ successes in 2014.
The Falconets reached the final of the U20 Women's World Cup before the senior team won the African title.
"Sincerely, I don't think Pinnick has any plan for women football. Nigeria enjoyed great success from our women teams in 2014 and [Asisat] Oshoala stood out with her individual performances and awards,” the leader of the group, Moses Bako told Goal.
"Imagine, the girls are yet to even be rewarded for the glory they brought to the country in 2014 and still don't know when they will be called to camp. We heard coach Edwin Okon has submitted his programmes since, but nothing has been heard from the NFF.
"As a group, we are not pleased with the situation and want to voice our displeasure over the NFF's failure to call our players to camp and arrange grade A friendly matches for them,” he concluded.
While former assistant coach of Nigeria U20 women team, Christopher Alor, blamed the falling standard of women football on the insincerity within the leadership of the country's football federation.
Alor called for early preparation for the Super Falcons suggesting that the arrangement of high profile friendly games, invitational tournaments and training tours will boost the technical and tactical readiness of the team.
"The problem of women football is administration. The NFF does not care enough about women football at the national team level. If you are not well prepared, you prepare to face the odds.
“In preparation for World Cup, you have to camp these girls for a long time. And they go for playing tour - they play friendly matches.
“And during these friendly matches, injury could come, performance can fall, then there could be changes and you are removing and adding. And when you are bringing in, the players can blend.
“So you camp about 35 players, go for friendly matches and training tours. Before you go for the World Cup, you will see that those girls will be at the highest peak.
"Preparation means going out of the shore of your country to play good teams like Germany, Japan, England and Brazil. I know it will cost a lot, but if they want these girls to shine at the World Cup, that is what they should do," he concluded.
As the saying goes, he who fails to plan, plans to fail. With nothing being heard or seen per NFF plans for the Falcons, only time will judge.
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