NFF mulls Sand Eagles return, pledges support for League

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says plans are underway to reinstate and assemble a formidable Super Sand Eagles team that can compete globally.

NFF Secretary-General, Mohammed Sanusi, said this on Tuesday at the official commissioning of the African Beach Soccer Union (ABSU) office situated within the former NFF headquarters popularly called “glass house’ in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that that the NFF had in December 2019 disbanded the Super Sand Eagles and put a hold to the team’s participation in international tournament.

This was sequel to the abysmal outing of the team at the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Paraguay where the team lost all its three group stage matches.

An elated Sanusi on Tuesday, while commissioning the ABSU headquarters, said the development was good for the growth of the fast-rising sport in Africa.

He stated that with the start of the BSN league, the Super Sand Eagles will be returning to the international fold soon.

“You may recall that Nigeria was doing well in beach soccer, but we suddenly began to dwindle, and the problem was traced to a lack of a functional league.”

“That’s why we put a halt to our participation in African Beach Soccer and stated that we needed to start our own league.”

“Now that we have a functional local league, I can assure you that we will go and sit down at our level (NFF) to review our position (on Super Sand Eagles) so that we can resume participation in international beach soccer,” he said.

The NFF scribe promised to collaborate more closely with the Nigeria Beach Soccer Association and the ABSU to promote the game in Nigeria and throughout Africa.

Earlier, ABSU President Mahmud Hadejia stated that the continental association’s goal was to promote and develop a strong beach soccer culture and league throughout Africa.

He insisted that the commissioning of the headquarters in Abuja would help to accelerate the game’s development.

“Today is historic for ABSU because we have been pushing for a functional headquarters for a long time because this will help facilitate stronger beach side culture in Africa,” he said.

Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande, Chairman of the Nigeria Beach Soccer Association, stated in his remarks that the association would continue to work around the clock to improve the beach soccer league in Nigeria.

According to NAN, Kebbi Beach Soccer Club won the first edition of the Nigeria Beach Soccer League, which was divided into three phases and a super four.