Coach Randy Waldrum will not be present at the dugout during the Super Falcons’ Paris 2024 Women Olympic Football Tournament second-round first-leg qualifying match against Lucy of Ethiopia today. This is due to a breakdown in negotiations between the coach and his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation.
Our correspondent has learned that the NFF had asked Waldrum to lead the team out against Lucy, but Waldrum declined, stating that he was not obligated to work until negotiations over a new contract had concluded.
According to a source, Waldrum believes that it would be unprofessional to lead the team out when he isn’t under any contract. Additionally, he has a crucial game with his US team, the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, on Thursday, and would not have been able to make the Falcons match even if he had agreed.
The NFF is eager to beat Ethiopia, who won their first-round matches with a 10-0 aggregate score. As a result, they tried to convince Waldrum to lead the team, but an agreement was not reached.
The NFF Director of Media, Demola Ojaiire, confirmed that Waldrum would not be part of the team for the two legs against the Ethiopians. “He will not be in charge of the team for the two legs. Negotiations between the NFF and the coach are yet to be concluded, but we are hopeful that everything will be sorted out after this round of qualifiers,” he said.
Waldrum’s relationship with the NFF is not good after he criticized the Federation ahead of the last FUFA Women’s World Cup, where the team was eliminated in the round of 16.
Due to Waldrum’s absence from Ethiopia against Nigeria game in Addis Ababa, his three Nigerian assistants, Justin Madugu, Ann Agumanu-Chiejine, and Auwal Makwalla, who have worked with him for the past two and a half years, will be leading the former African champions in the encounter.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 pm Ethiopia time (1:30 pm Nigeria time) at the Abebe Bekila Stadium on Wednesday. The return leg will be held at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on Tuesday, October 31. The winner on aggregate will face the winner of the Cameroon/Uganda fixture for a place in the final round of the qualification series.
The 2024 Olympic Games will take place between July 26 and August 11, 2024, in Paris and a few other locations in France.
