Falcons to get new coach before Olympic qualifier

The Super Falcons are set to have a new technical crew in place before they resume their 2028 Women’s Olympic qualifying campaign in October, Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, has hinted.

On Monday, the Nigeria Football Federation asked the technical crew, led by coach Justine Madugu, to step down following the team’s disappointing campaign at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

Nigeria suffered their earliest-ever exit at the tournament after losing 1-0 to Cameroon in the quarter-finals, subsequently missed out on automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup before a 2-1 defeat by South Africa in the CAF play-off dealt a final blow on their dreams.

Other members of the technical crew affected by the decision include former Falcons goalkeeper Ann Chiejine, goalkeeper coach Auwal Makwalla, and Swedish duo Igor Krulj and Per Karlsson, who worked as video analyst and fitness coach respectively.

The development leaves the NFF with the immediate task of finding a new technical direction for the 10-time African champions, with their Olympic qualifying campaign fast approaching.

“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,” Olopade revealed.

The Falcons returned to the women’s football event at the Paris 2024 Olympics after a 16-year absence but were eliminated in the group stage.

Nigeria are scheduled to resume their qualification campaign in October against Comoros, who advanced to the second round after a 30-0 aggregate victory over Sudan.

The Coelacanths won the first leg 17-0 on June 3 before completing the rout with a 13-0 victory five days later.

Olopade said the NSC and NFF would work to restructure the Falcons’ technical setup ahead of the Olympic qualifiers, stressing the importance of securing Nigeria’s return to the Games.