EXCLUSIVE: NFF eats humble pie, retains Waldrum as Super Falcons coach
EXCLUSIVE: NFF eats humble pie, retains Waldrum as Super Falcons coach
By Harry Awurumibe,
Africa’s No.1 Women Football Journalist
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) may have swallowed its vomit by the reappointment of the controversial head coach of Super Falcons, Randy Waldrum after he abandoned the nation’s senior women’s football team two weeks ago when Nigeria took on Ethiopia in the 2023 Paris Olympics women’s football African qualifiers double-header in Addis Ababa and Abuja.
Sportsrevelation has exclusively gathered that the NFF rejected the coach’s request to only show up in Addis Ababa for Nigeria’s first leg match against Ethiopia and return to Pittsburgh University from Ethiopia without leading Nigeria in the return leg tie in Abuja, has handed Waldrum a new contract to continue on the job after his first contract which was signed in 2020 ended on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.
According to sources close to the NFF decision-making organ, Waldrum has been asked to continue on the job after the federation had pretended not to be favourably disposed to give him a new contract after he has treated the football house with levity and had even accused the NFF of financial malfeasance before the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Australia and New Zealand.
The American-born Waldrum who is also the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh women’s football club Panthers recently preferred to stay in the United States (US) to lead the school team in the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship which clashed with Nigeria versus Ethiopia double-header ties.
Nigerian coaches Justin Madugu, Ann Agumanu-Chiejine and Auwal Makwalla prosecuted the two matches drawing 1-1 in Addis Ababa in the first leg match and winning 4-0 in Abuja in the return leg to qualify Nigeria for the next round of the Olympics qualifiers without Waldrum whose club also played matches in US the same time Super Falcons were in action in Africa.
It was also gathered that the NFF hierarchy has been cajoled to hand an improved contract to Waldrum by a powerful cabal who argued that the coach did well in his first term although Nigeria failed to win the last Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) held in Morocco after losing three matches in the competition to finish a distant fourth place behind South Africa, Morocco and Zambia.
Waldrum later led Super Falcons to the Round of 16 in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Australia and New Zealand where Nigeria was eliminated by England 4-2 on penalties after the match had ended England 0-0 in open play. Nigeria had earlier played 0-0 with Canada and Republic of Ireland, and defeated Australia 3-2 in the group stage.
But that achievement still fell short of Nigeria’s quarter-final finish in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in United States of America (USA) when late coach Ismaila Mabo led Nigeria to finish 6th in the global football fiesta to pick the ticket for the 2000 Sydney Olympics women’s football event and winning the maiden African Women Championship (AWC) in 1998.
Also, Waldrum’s predecessor Thomas Dennerby led Nigeria to the Round of 16 in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in France and won the 11th WAFCON for the nation in Ghana in 2018 to make the argument that Waldrum performed better than any of his predecessors a mere propaganda to hoodwink the Nigerian citizens.
It remains to be seen if Waldrum who never spent a week in Nigeria in his first three years will now be asked to live in Abuja like Dennerby, the first expatriate manager of Super Falcons just as it was not clear if NFF will still allow Waldrum to keep his first job as the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.
