By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
An Olympian and former Super Falcons forward, Patience Avre-Odeli has tasked the National Sports Commission Football Federation (NSC) and its agency the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure that Nigeria picks one of the two tickets to represent Africa in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games Women’s Football Tournament.
This is even as Nigeria faces a tough road to qualification for the global women’s football competition following the discovery that the country will meet strong opponents along the way after drawing minors Sudan or Comoros in the second round of the African qualifying phase which will be played in the weekend of October 5 and 13, 2026,
Should Nigeria beat in Sudan or Comoros in October, the next opponent will either be Morocco or Congo in the third round of matches slated for the weekend of February 23 and March 6, 2027.
Also, if Nigeria scales through the Morocco or Congo hurdle, the next opponent of Nigeria in the fourth round billed for October 4 and 12, 2027, will be the winner of matches between Tunisia/Senegal versus Benin Republic/Mali in the third round.
Yet, the fifth and final phase of African qualifiers to be played in the weekend of November 23 and December 4, 2027, will pitch Nigeria against countries that survived the three previous group phases such as arch-rivals Cameroon or Guinea; DR Congo or Cotè d’Ivoire; Central African Republic (CAR) or Algeria; Burkina Faso or Equatorial Guinea.
Against the backdrop of the envisaged rigorous routes to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, Avre-Odeli, who played as a forward for Nigeria’s senior women’s football team at the 1995, 1999, and 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cups as well as the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, has sounded an alarm that Nigeria runs a risk of nothing qualifying for the Summer Games in 2028 if adequate planning and early preparations are not given to the Super Falcons.
Speaking from her United States base, she argued that no country is a minor in women’s football in Africa at the moment, pointing out that Morocco and Cameroon pose very big threats to Nigeria’s qualification for the global women’s football event as the 10-time African champions will meet the two strong nations from the third and last round of matches.
Said she: “I have been following the Super Falcons games after my retirement, and I know that without adequate preparations, the team may not do well as expected. Again, Olympic Games African qualifiers have always been tough because only a few tickets are available for Africa, and Nigeria can not miss out.”
Speaking further, she admonished both the NSC and NFF of the need to take the Super Falcons preparations very seriously, adding that unlike the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament which the NFF takes the lead in financing, the NSC is solely responsible for funding athletes and footballers representing Nigeria in the Olympic Games.
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“I want to believe that the Chairman of NSC, Mallam Shehu Dikko, as an astute sports administrator, will work in harmony with the NFF leadership to provide the Super Falcons all they need to navigate through the four qualifying phases to get one of the two African tickets to Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games”, Avre-Odeli stated.
The Chairperson of United Ex-Super Falcons Association insists that Nigeria must not miss out on qualifying for the next Summer Olympics, saying that the country has the players to deliver the ticket if only the sports administrators would put their acts right and support the team in its preparations and throughout the qualifying phases.
