Former Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has criticised Nigeria’s preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, accusing the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) of administrative lapses ahead of the tournament.
Speaking on his ObiOne podcast, Mikel expressed frustration over the build-up to the competition, which kicks off on Sunday in Morocco, and questioned how salary issues involving the national team coach could persist at such a crucial stage.
“I’m not impressed at all with the preparation. After everything that happened with the World Cup qualifiers, you would expect things to be better,” Mikel said, reiterating his call for the resignation of the NFF board following Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
“How do you owe a coach money at this stage? It’s shameless. This is not how serious football nations operate. When issues like this are in the public space, it affects the coach, the players and even the fans,” he added.
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Mikel said the period leading into the AFCON should have been used to restore confidence and demonstrate lessons learnt, rather than reopening old wounds. “You can’t go into a tournament of this magnitude with unresolved problems. Everything must be sorted now. Nigeria deserves better. Our football deserves better.”
Reports had emerged that Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle was owed three months’ salary and bonuses by the NFF on the eve of the competition.
However, Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, disclosed on Monday that the commission had been paying Chelle’s salary on behalf of the NFF, despite not being a party to his contract.
“The NSC has been paying the salaries of Eric Chelle on behalf of the NFF even though we are not a party to the contract,” Dikko said during an interview on Arise Television. “This is part of our support to the NFF.”
Nigeria are drawn in Group C of AFCON 2025 alongside Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania, with their opening match against Tanzania slated for December 23 in Fès.
The Super Eagles go into the tournament following a 2-1 defeat to Egypt in their only pre-AFCON friendly played on Tuesday in Cairo.
