Former Chairman of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee, Barrister Chris Green, has issued a stark warning about what he describes as the near-total breakdown of structured youth football development in Nigeria.
Green cautions that the nation may soon become permanently dependent on foreign-based players if urgent reforms are not implemented.
Speaking in a recent interview, Green did not mince words as he highlighted the alarming decay in the country’s talent pipeline.
He declared that there has been “zero progress” in youth football in the past few years, adding that the system which once produced elite internationals has now been left in the hands of unregulated, unverified and often dubious private academies.
“You allow all sorts of people, all sorts of characters to run academies. These academies are not monitored, screened, or regulated,” Green lamented.
According to him, this lack of oversight has created an environment where the very concept of youth development has been distorted.
Complete Dependence on Foreign-Based Players – Chris Green
Green warned that Nigeria is heading toward a dangerous over-reliance on foreign-trained players, as local structures are no longer capable of producing talent that can compete on merit.
He argued that this dependence is not only risky but also a direct result of the country’s failure to build, monitor, and sustain a functional youth football ecosystem.
Green highlighted one of the most worrying trends: so-called academies fielding players who are already far beyond youth age brackets.
“Here, you have people who say they are in academies from ages 20 and above,” he said.
He added that many academy operators frequently lobby coaches and officials to smuggle these over-age players into national youth teams.
“When these academy owners hobnob with coaches and officials and push in their over-age players, we end up with players who are not properly baked.”
The consequence, he explained, is a national team system that receives players who lack proper foundational training, tactical discipline, and long-term development.
Domestic League Quality Has Collapsed – Chris Green
Chris Green also pointed to the steady decline of the Nigerian domestic league, which he believes has lost its ability to produce top-quality players capable of competing for Super Eagles positions.
“Can you compare the leagues when we were there with what we have now?” he asked rhetorically.
He recalled a time when the Nigerian league was strong enough to produce elite internationals such as Kenneth Omeruo and Sunday Mba, both instrumental in Nigeria’s 2013 Africa Cup of Nations triumph.
“In my time, how many players did we get from outside? We made sure that predominantly all our players came from the domestic leagues,” he stated.
Today, however, the trend has reversed dramatically. With the league regressing, national team coaches are increasingly forced to look abroad for players, an outcome Green describes as unsustainable.
Call for Immediate Nationwide Reform
The outspoken administrator called for urgent intervention by the NFF and the federal government.
He urged authorities to:
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License and regulate football academies nationwide
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Monitor age-grade structures to prevent age fraud
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Standardize the curriculum for youth football training
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Raise the competitive standards of the domestic league
Green insisted that only a full return to systematic, age-appropriate grassroots development can rescue Nigeria from its current trajectory.
He concluded with a passionate appeal:
“Only proper grassroots development can restore Nigeria’s status as a football powerhouse.”
