NFF president says there are no plans to extend Eric Chelle's Super Eagles contract for now

SUPER Eagles head coach Eric Chelle could be on his way to accepting one of the numerous offers being dangled before him after the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) president Ibrahim Gusau revealed that his current contract will not be extended.

Over the last week, Mr Chelle has been attracting offers from several federations after guiding Nigeria to third place in the recent African Cup of Nations. Although Nigeria did not win the tournament, the Super Eagles were adjudged to have been the best team in Morocco, with their fine displays making Mr Chelle hot property.

World Cup bound Tunisia for instance sacked their head coach Sami Trabelsi after the Carthage Eagles crashed out of the African Cup of Nations to Mali in the Round of 16. Following the sacking, the Tunisian FA have approached Mr Chelle and asked him to take the Carthage Eagles to the World Cup.

Apparently, the Tunisians have apparently offered to double Mr Chelle's salary to $100,000 a month to lure him away from Nigeria. Mr Chelle, who has coached Mali in the past, has also attracted interest from Angola and Guinea, who are both looking to appoint new head coaches.

Pressed on the matter, Mr Gusau said that Mr Chelle was appointed head coach of the Super Eagles in January 2025 and offered a two year contract. He pointed out that there are no plans to extend that contract  for now.

Mr Gusau said: “For now, there’ll be no contract extension discussion with Chelle. We signed a two-year contract with him in January 2025 and he’s still only halfway through his contract.”

In the short term, it appears that Mr Chelle is likely to be in charge of Nigeria’s yet-to-be-confirmed friendly matches in March. Nigeria is also holding on to a remote chance of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after the NFF protested the fact that DR Congo fielded ineligible players in their play-off.

Next month, global footballing body Fifa is due to rule on Nigeria's petition, with the NFF optimistic that DR Congo will be disqualified. If Nigeria do qualify for the World Cup, Mr Chelle would love the idea of leading the Super Eagles to the tournament.