By Our Reporter,The Nation

Copyright thenationonlineng

By Victor Oguntade

Former Super Eagles goalkeeper and football pundit Idah Peterside has criticized the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), describing its leadership as plagued by long-standing “rottenness” and unqualified decision-makers.

Speaking on the poor state of Nigerian football, Peterside said the game continues to suffer because competent individuals are sidelined in favour of less capable hands.

“I don’t want to get into the Nigeria case. I’ve seen this rottenness for a very long time,” he said. “We’ve complained deeply. Sometimes it seems because we played football, we don’t qualify to run football. That’s a big shame. I went to school, I have enough education, and I played the game.”

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He argued that running football should require proper managerial and business skills, not politics or favouritism. “You need to have the ability to manage things, business or whatever it is, to be able to run an organisation. But sometimes they don’t honour us, they don’t respect us. Once you played football, they look at you as if you’re not capable,” Peterside lamented.

The 50-year-old, who retired from football in 2002 and later served as media officer for the Super Eagles, emphasized that Nigeria must embrace qualified administrators if its football is to recover. “More qualified people should be running our football in this country,” he added.

Recall that

Peterside contested unsuccessfully for the NFF presidency in 2022 and his comments come amid renewed criticism of the NFF following Super Eagles’ struggles in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with fans increasingly demanding accountability and reforms in the administration of the sport.