Gusau affirms support to women’s football across all levels

The Nigeria Football Federation’s President, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has reaffirmed that his administration is dedicated to giving women greater chances to develop their potential and secure gainful employment within the Nigerian football ecosystem as they grow as individuals. Speaking yesterday at the opening ceremony of the three-module CAF-C License Coaching Course (exclusively for women) […]

The Nigeria Football Federation’s President, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has reaffirmed that his administration is dedicated to giving women greater chances to develop their potential and secure gainful employment within the Nigerian football ecosystem as they grow as individuals.

Speaking yesterday at the opening ceremony of the three-module CAF-C License Coaching Course (exclusively for women) in Abuja, Gusau stated that football being for all – men, women, young and old – the present NFF administration will always support women coaches to get employment with either government-owned, privately-owned or community-owned clubs after building their capacity to a certain level.

“FIFA has been putting much premium on women football over the years, and we are also happy to follow suit. Women football continues to grow worldwide, and our country should not be any different. Whatever we are doing, without training those who train the footballers, we are not doing anything meaningful. Those who train the players must continuously improve their own capacity in knowledge of modern tactics and techniques in order to make our teams much better,” he said.

In the same vein, Gusau has charged players of Nigeria’s U20 girls, Falconets, to be focused, attentive to the instructions of their coaches, work hard and embrace discipline to achieve success at this year’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals in Colombia.

“I am aware of our country’s pedigree in the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup. Your predecessors have won the silver medal on two occasions and reached the semi-finals once. Now is the time for the ultimate.

“I believe that with discipline, hard work, dedication, focus and prayers for mother luck in your matches, you can emerge triumphant. These are the qualities that are necessary for success. The NFF will continue to provide the support and encouragement that you need to excel,” Gusau said as he spoke to the players after their morning training session at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project on Monday. 2022 quarter-finalists Nigeria have been drawn to play three-time winners Germany, Venezuela and Korea Republic in Group D of this year’s tournament.

The final competition, which will welcome 24 teams for the first time, will hold 31st August – 22nd September.