BY OKEY NDIRIBE
The Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) was scheduled to appear before the Senate Committee on Sports yesterday at the chambers of the upper legislative house in Abuja.

This was confirmed by the President of NFF Alhaji Aminu Maigari while speaking to Sports Writers in Abuja.

Although, the purpose for the summons was not clear as at press time, it cannot be unconnected with several issues that have dominated the attention of NFF in recent times.

These include the failure of almost all the national football teams to qualify for any major football tournament this year. It began with the men’s Senior national football team, the Super Eagles which failed to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

The team had been held to a 2-2 draw by the Syli Nationale of Guinea after they had beaten the Eagles during the first leg in Conakry.

Few weeks after, the Super Falcons was defeated in Cameroon where the team had gone to keep a date with the Cameroonian female side for a slot in the London 2012 Olympics. The Under-23 National team had earlier in the year failed to qualify for the football event of the All Africa Games which was held in Maputo, Mozambique last September.

The nation’s performance at club level in continental football had also nose-dived as Enyimba Football Club of Aba had crashed out at the semi-final stage of the Africa Champions League after losing to Wydad of Morocco. As if this was not enough, Sunshine Football Club of Akure also lost home to Club Africaine of Tunisia in an African Confederations (CAF) cup tie last month.

The ouster of the Super Eagles from the finals of the African Nations Cup had infuriated many Nigerians thereby leading to NFF’s sack of the team’s former Coach-Samson Siasia.

Penultimate week, the NFF had hired Coach Stephen Keshi to handle the Super Eagles with a clause that he must ensure the team qualifies for the 2013 African Cup of Nations to be hosted by South Africa and take the team to the quarter finals of the 2014 World Cup to be hosted by Brazil.