Nigeria Football Federation president Ibrahim Gusau has firmly rejected growing speculation linking Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle with a potential departure, insisting the Malian tactician remains fully dedicated to the national team’s long-term ambitions.
Chelle’s reputation soared following Nigeria’s impressive outing at the recent Africa Cup of Nations, where the Super Eagles secured a third-place finish after defeating Egypt 4-2 on penalties in the bronze medal match.
Although Nigeria narrowly missed the ultimate prize, the team emerged as one of the tournament’s most exciting sides, finishing as the highest scoring team and maintaining an unbeaten record throughout normal time in every fixture.
Chelle’s tactical approach, which emphasised attacking fluidity and defensive organisation, has drawn admiration across the continent and naturally triggered interest from other national teams, including reported approaches from Tunisia, despite the coach still having a year remaining on his contract with Nigeria’s football governing body.
However, Gusau has moved swiftly to calm concerns among supporters, stressing that Chelle remains focused on strengthening the Super Eagles and continuing the project he began upon assuming the role.
Speaking in an interview released through the Super Eagles media channels, Gusau reiterated that contractual obligations remain binding and insisted the federation is determined to shield the coach from unnecessary distractions.
“We still have a one-year contract with Eric and therefore whatever interest anybody will show in him, it still has to wait until his contract expires,” Gusua said.
“Basically we don’t make some distractions on him because we quite well understand that he enjoys working with Nigeria,” he explained.
“It is not about whether a team is interested in him and it is not about whether he has gotten the result with the Super Eagles, so if he goes to the other team, despite the fact that they are going to give him more money, is he going to get the result?”
“It is not the issue. The issue there is did they have the material for him to work with to achieve what he wants to achieve?”
“The dream of every single coach is to make sure he achieves success, especially in higher tournaments.
“So, when you are saying I want the coach and we are going to look for the coach and we are going to pay him so so amount of money.
“It is not the issue of money but will he achieve what he wants to achieve in his career or is he just going there for the money?”
“So the key thing is that I know Coach Eric believes in the Super Eagles and he believes that he can achieve whatever he wants to achieve in his career when it comes to coaching, especially with the national team, within the African continent.
“He has so much belief in the Super Eagles and he has every confidence that he can achieve all his dreams with the Super Eagles.”
“So that is the key thing that I believe in and I know we have discussed it several times with him.”
“To us, we believe in him and when the time comes we will definitely let Nigerians know the way forward. But Eric is part of the Super Eagles.”
