The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, has clarified that the primary duties of the commission does not include deciding the fate of the Super Eagles’ head coach, Eric Chelle.
He said the decision on whether Chelle stays as the National Team coach or not will be made by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’ on Monday, the NSC Chairman explained that it is the duty of the NFF to evaluate Chelle’s performance and make a recommendation which they can then approve, disapprove or engage on to come to a final decision.
Naija News reports Dikko made the submission amidst the rising dissatisfaction over the Super Eagles’ poor 2026 World Cup qualification campaign, which currently sees their qualification hanging by a thread after a disappointing 1-1 draw with South Africa in Bloemfontein on September 9.
“Eric Chelle is the responsibility of the Nigeria Football Federation to decide. At the end of the day, after they finish, they’ll do the analysis, and then they will recommend to us, and then we look at it, we approve or disapprove, or we engage to do that,” Dikko explained.
While acknowledging the uncomfortable situation the Eagles have found themselves in the qualifiers, Dikko insisted that Eric Chelle had performed well since coming on board in January 2025.
He argued that previous results are largely responsible for the current situation the team have found themselves.
“As for the World Cup, we all know where we are. When we came on board, we only had three points out of 12, but now we have been able to, at least with Eric Chelle, the NFF, pull ourselves together. Now, we have eight points in another four games. If we had gotten these results before, probably, we could have been preparing to qualify for the World Cup,” he noted.
Naija News reports that with only two matches left in the qualifying campaign, Nigeria currently sits third in Group C with 11 points, six points adrift of leaders South Africa (17 points) and three behind Benin in second place.
He agreed that mathematically, the Eagles might not have a chance at qualification, as their fate is out of their hands. He, however, expressed optimism that anything is still possible in football.
“Based on the numbers, it’s out of our hands. So we just have to win our next two games and see what happens because it’s football; somebody has to lose for you to qualify. So, we have to win our next two games and see where it takes us. But we are still hopeful. Anything can happen,” he said.
Dikko promised that the NSC would continue to give all the necessary support to the team.
“As a commission, we did all we had to do to support. For the last game we played, the National Sports Commission chartered a flight, paid for hotels, and made the bonuses available,” he added.
Nigeria will face Lesotho on October 8 before rounding off their qualifiers against the Benin Republic on October 11.
The post Shehu Dikko Speaks On Sacking Eric Chelle As Super Eagles Coach appeared first on Naija News.
