Nigeria’s final 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match might be a dead rubber game, as the Super Eagles already qualified for next year’s tournament, however, the team might be thrown into disarray following the ongoing saga over the Coaching vacancy.

Since the expiration of Jose Peseiro’s contract, the NFF has officially – and unofficially – fiddled with the idea of an interim coach, but nothing seems forthcoming.

Allowing Peseiro’s contract run out was seen as a strategic move in order for the new leadership of the Federation to renegotiate terms of a new deal that meets the reality of its financial straits.

Nonetheless, the Portuguese is owed a backlog of salaries and albeit there’s some healthy amount of optimism that the cordial relationship between the parties could help them reach an amicable solution, agreement on a new deal or appointment of a new coach on the other hand, is a likelihood that hangs precipitously in the air.

That indoor plumbing itself could be counterproductive to the gains made since the disappointing 2021 AFCON campaign and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying fiasco for the Super Eagles.

Peseiro hasn’t managed to get the Eagles gliding, but there are signs that his man management, game strategy and overall philosophy could ensure stability.

Even the players have been muttering about the impending catastrophe any sudden chop and change, in this crucial stage of the rebuild, portends.

Sources in the NFF are also wary of a repeat of the Garoua embarrassment where the team crashed out of the Cup of Nations in the second round, having switched management barely two months to the tournament – the same script is being written, or at least the hand writing is on the wall.

The NFF’s new terms to Peseiro for a possible contract renewal and deadline given appears like grandstanding, but these are conditions which the Federation has no grounds to stand on.

However, the countdown to the AFCON qualifying match against Sao Tome and Principe, on September 10, will definitely reveal more.