BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced the appointment of Mali’s Éric Sékou Chelle as the new head coach of the Super Eagles, ending months of wait for a permanent boss for the national team.
“The executive committee of the NFF has endorsed the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee for the appointment of Mr Éric Sékou Chelle as head coach of Nigeria’s senior men’s national football team, Super Eagles,” the NFF said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Super Eagles have been without a known head coach since former manager Jose Peseiro was sacked following the conclusion of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early last year.
Ex-Nigerian international Augustine Eguavoen served as the team’s interim head coach through the first stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and oversaw Nigeria’s qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations last year.
“At its meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, 2nd January 2025, the NFF Technical and Development Sub-Committee had recommended the appointment of former coach of the senior men national team of Mali as the new head coach of the Super Eagles. This recommendation was on Tuesday, 7th January, endorsed by the NFF Executive Committee,” the NFF added.
Chelle’s major task would be to ensure Nigeria qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which is quite a difficult job, given that the Eagles currently sit fifth on the Group C qualifying table and must win all their remaining matches in the qualifiers to have any hope of participating in the tournament.
His appointment is with immediate effect, and he has the responsibility of guiding the Super Eagles to earn a ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, with the next round of matches (Matchdays 5 & 6) taking place in March.
Chelle, who won five caps for the Aiglons of Mali and coached clubs such as GS Consolat, FC Martigues, Boulogne and MC Oran, has been Head Coach of the Aiglons since 2022.
Chelle was appointed manager of Mali and was dismissed on 13 June 2024.
