Why Do Nigerian Clubs Struggle in CAF Competitions

Rivers United recently exited the CAF Confederation Cup following a 2-1 aggregate defeat to Tanzanian side Young Africans. This continues a disappointing run of poor performances from Nigerian teams on the continent over the years.

Nigeria is considered one of the powerhouses of Football in Africa, having won multiple AFCON titles in the men and women’s game. However, that dominance has not been translated into success at club level.

Since Enyimba won successive CAF Champions League titles in 2003 and 2004, no Nigerian club has managed to achieve the same feat. In fact, Nigerian clubs barely make it to the knockout phase of continental competitions as it has been one disappointment after another.

Below is a table illustrating Nigeria’s failings on the continent for the last 10 years:

There have been several inquiries into the reasons for Nigeria’s abysmal showings at club level on the continent.  However, no solutions have been proffered while there appears to be no end in sight to the disappointment of our teams

Administration

This has long been one of the major problems in multiple sectors in general and it is a far-reaching issue that affects sports. It is widely believed that most of the success in Nigerian sports have been accomplished in spite of the widespread administrative incompetence.

There are lots of problems bedeviling the NPFL and at the root of it all is the poor organization of the league. Specifically, the calendar, the poor and sometimes non-existent structure of the clubs and the lack of professionalism with players contracts

The unaligned calendar is a major problem as the NPFL always appears to be on break when other leagues are in the thick of the season. This means that our teams are often not up to speed when the competition gets intense, and ultimately fall short.

The lack of professionalism in the NPFL means these clubs can lose their best players, even midway through the campaign. These players often move to other African teams, weakening our clubs and making their rivals stronger. 

Economic constraints

The best leagues in the world have plenty of money pumped into them. There are multiple sources for these monies with governments and private individuals often involved while the clubs also try to secure sponsorships from private brands.

To be fair, there are a number of clubs that can be considered well managed under this criterion. A perfect example of this is Remo Stars, owned by Kunle Soname. The renowned businessman is also owner of Portuguese club CD Feirense, while he is also chairman of Bet9ja, one of the leading sports betting operators in the country.

They are recognized as one of the best betting operators in the land by renowed comparison site Betting App Nigeria.

However, there are only a handful of clubs that can put themselves in this category. A lot of the teams in Nigeria have financial constraints as they often struggle to pay their players, leaving them disillusioned and generally unmotivated.

A combination of all these factors means these teams always fall short when they come up against better run clubs, who are not affected by all these distractions.

Poor officiating

A big question surrounding NPFL teams and their adventures on the continent: “Does Nigeria have the best representatives on the continent?

There is a general belief that certain teams are favoured in the NPFL and as a result, we don’t get the best representatives on the continent. The disparity in quality becomes evident when they come up against some of the elite sides in African football.

While there is no evidence of a grand conspiracy, the effect of incompetent officiating is still the same. The teams who represent the country on the continent are not a fair representation of the best from the NPFL.

While these problems are far-reaching, the good news is they are not incurable. Other teams in Africa, particularly the North Africans, have overcome these issues and continue to enjoy success on the continent.

These are all properly run clubs and teams in the NPFL can adopt some of the measures to ensure performances improve on the continent.