Sport Integrity Foundation has congratulated the coaches, backroom staff and players of the Nigeria U17 boys team, the Golden Eaglets for recording a clean bill of health following the MRI tests conducted on them ahead of the WAFU B U17 championship, in Burkina Faso.
In a statement signed by Sport Integrity Foundation Secretary, Mr. Godwin Dele, the board commends the Nigeria Football Federation, the National Sports Commission, the coaches and the players.
“The entire board and members of Sports Integrity Foundation (SIF) wishes to congratulate the Nigeria football federation, the coaches, the backroom staff and players of the Nigeria U17 boys national team on the amazing but not surprising news that the young one’s recorded a perfect record in the MRI scan conducted on them recently, at the WAFU B U17 championship in Burkina Faso.
“We believe this is a highly commendable feat which must be applauded, because it shows that the coaches and backroom staff of the team did a thorough job in ensuring that only qualified players were selected for the outing, which shows sincererity of purpose from the team.
“We’ve followed the process of constructing this team and based on information gathered, can say that the coaches were fair, firm and considerate in their decision making process. We also applaud the Nigeria football federation for giving the coaches a free hand to operate and providing the necessary tools for them to carry out their job which did not compromise the integrity of the team.
“We also salute the National Sports Commission for providing support to the NFF and the team, especially at this very critical moment when Nigeria football is undergoing reforms,” he wrote.
The SIF however charge the NSC and NFF to ensure a stronger national Youth League through the NLO.
“We hereby call on the NSC and the NFF to empower the Nationwide League One more than it currently does in it’s proposed Nigeria football reforms, if Nigeria as a country hopes to excel in football as it once did.
“Findings by the SIF proves that 18 out of the 25 players selected for the 2026 WAFU B U17 championship are players from the Nationwide League One, a pointer to what having a proper and centralised league structure can do for a country. We however notice that despite the efforts of the NLO management, there seems to be lack of institutional support to develop and empower the NLO Youth League which is the bedrock of Nigerian football.
“We therefore call on the NSC and NFF to ensure that the NLO is strengthened in the proposed football reforms for Nigeria to have a safe, ethical, structured and centralised youth football platform,” the statement read.
SIGNED
Godwin Dele
Secretary