The Super Falcons of Nigeria are expected to have a new technical crew in place before the start of their 2028 Women’s Olympic qualifying campaign in October, according to National Sports Commission (NSC) Director-General Bukola Olopade.
The development comes after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) directed Justine Madugu and his backroom staff to step aside following the team’s disappointing performance at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.
Nigeria suffered an early exit from the tournament after a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Cameroon. The result also contributed to the team missing out on automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup after a 2-1 loss to South Africa in the CAF play-off.
Following the NFF’s decision, several members of Madugu’s technical team also departed, including former Super Falcons goalkeeper Ann Chiejine, goalkeeper coach Auwal Makwalla, video analyst Igor Krulj and fitness coach Per Karlsson.
With the Olympic qualifiers approaching, the NSC and NFF are now working towards restructuring the team and appointing a new technical leadership.
Olopade said the authorities are determined to ensure Nigeria secures qualification for the Olympics.
“The Olympics are around the corner, we will see how we can tweak the technical team of the Falcons like we did for the U-23, which coach Eric Chelle will handle. This is because we are desirous of qualifying for the Olympics,” he said.
The Super Falcons returned to the women’s football event at the Paris 2024 Olympics after a 16-year absence but were eliminated at the group stage.
Nigeria’s next challenge comes in October when they take on Comoros in the Olympic qualifying campaign.
Comoros advanced to the second round after recording a 30-0 aggregate victory over Sudan. They won the first leg 17-0 on June 3 before completing the rout with a 13-0 victory in the return fixture five days later.
The NFF will now be under pressure to appoint a new coach and technical team capable of guiding the 10-time African champions through the Olympic qualifiers.
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