THE Super Falcons are set to have a new technical crew in place before they resume their 2028 Women’s Olympic qualifying campaign in October, following the National Football Federation’s decision to ask the existing crew led by coach Justine Madugu to step down after the team’s disappointing outing at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
News Point Nigeria Sport reports that the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, on Monday directed the technical crew to step aside, leaving the federation with the immediate task of finding a new technical direction for the 10-time African champions ahead of their fast-approaching Olympic qualifying campaign.
Nigeria suffered their earliest-ever exit at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after losing 1-0 to Cameroon in the quarter-finals.
The defeat also saw the Super Falcons miss out on automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, before a 2-1 loss to South Africa in the CAF play-off dealt a final blow to their hopes of reaching the global tournament.
Other members of the technical crew affected by the NFF’s decision include former Super Falcons goalkeeper Ann Chiejine, goalkeeper coach Auwal Makwalla, as well as Swedish duo Igor Krulj and Per Karlsson, who served as video analyst and fitness coach respectively.
With the 2028 Olympic qualifying campaign set to resume in October, the Director-General of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Bukola Olopade, has hinted that the Falcons will have a restructured technical setup before the crucial fixtures.
Olopade said the NSC and the NFF would work together to tweak the Super Falcons’ technical team, similar to the arrangement being made for the U-23 side, which coach Eric Chelle is expected to handle.
“The Olympics are around the corner, we will see how we can tweak the technical team of the Falcons like we did for the U-23, which coach Eric Chelle will handle. This is because we are desirous of qualifying for the Olympics,” Olopade revealed.
The Super Falcons returned to the women’s football event at the Paris 2024 Olympics after a 16-year absence but were eliminated at the group stage.
Nigeria will resume their qualification campaign in October against Comoros, who advanced to the second round after an astonishing 30-0 aggregate victory over Sudan.
The Coelacanths won the first leg 17-0 on June 3 before completing the remarkable rout with a 13-0 victory five days later.
Olopade stressed that both the NSC and the NFF would now focus on restructuring the Super Falcons’ technical setup ahead of the qualifiers, with securing Nigeria’s return to the Olympic Games remaining a major priority.
The planned overhaul comes as Nigeria seeks a fresh technical direction and a stronger response following the team’s disappointing WAFCON campaign and the setback to their hopes of qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.