Written by Tezor Dedam
Flag football is a contact-free variation of American football, and in early August 2026, the Nigerian men’s and women’s teams withdrew from the world championships in Germany because the delegation was unable to secure necessary visas ahead of the tournament.
In June 2025, Nigeria won the inaugural International Federation of American Football (IFAF) African championships for both men and women, hosted in Egypt. With this victory, they qualified for the only African spot at the world championships. But the IFAF, in a joint statement with the National Sports Commission of Nigeria (NSC) and the Nigerian Federation of American Football (NFAF), said it could not issue visas in time for the championships.
Photo Credit: Score Nigeria
In November 2025, the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking its second consecutive absence from the competition.
Just days before the 1-1 draw (and penalty shootout loss) against DR Congo that sealed their fate, the Super Eagles squad and technical staff boycotted their training session in Rabat, Morocco, to protest unpaid bonuses and allowances owed by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).
In August 2026, the Super Falcons were eliminated from the Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after a quarter-final defeat to Cameroon, which denied them an automatic World Cup ticket from a semi–final slot. They failed to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time since the competition’s inception in 1991.
Now, after flying high in the men’s and women’s African competitions, the Nigerian flag football teams have been denied the opportunity to compete on the world championship stage, and possibly in the 2028 Olympics, because of sheer administrative incompetence.
Bodunrin Sasore (popularly known as BB Sasore). Photo Credit: ThisDay
We spoke with Biodun “BB” Sasore, the technical director of the Nigerian Flag football team, in an interview on August 20, 2026. He established the growing prominence of the sport in Nigeria and internationally.
“The big appeal of [flag football] that nobody stumbled on is, [not just] the safety of it, but it’s the women; women can play this version of football. They don’t play the aggressive and dangerous version of football. That just expands the sport significantly,” he said.
Sasore also mentioned that the Nigerian programme is far more successful than its counterparts across Africa, further highlighting the sport’s potential in Nigeria. Nigeria has seen an 85% surge in participation in flag football since 2023, with NFAF outreach programs engaging more than 13,000 people in that time.
So, why has a sport with so much potential seen so many disappointments of late?
Sasore says it’s because of the poor leadership of the NFAF president.
Babajide Akeredolu, President, Nigerian Federation of American Football (NFAF). Photo Credit: Ondo Events
According to Sasore, when Nigeria qualified for the World Championships in Germany in February 2026, an official invitation was extended to the Nigerian Federation of American Football (NFAF), the official body for flag football in Nigeria.
The fee receipts for Team Nigeria (male & female) are shown below:
Receipts for some of the travel payments from NFAF
But as the championships drew closer? “We never held a national camp. Why? We simply did not raise one naira,” Sasore recalled.
According to Sasore, ₦87.4 million was budgeted for the national training camp. Yet, everything was paid for by contributions, even after several complaints from NFAF members to the National Sports Commission (NSC).
Three weeks to the World Championships, the entire federation was in panic mode because the visa application process hadn’t even started.
“When it was now three weeks to go… they fired the old Sec. Gen. because of all our complaints. The NSC, without wanting to remove the president like we kept asking for, just sacked the old Sec. Gen. The new Sec. Gen. came on and immediately said: “This is a problem; you can’t get a Note Verbale (a diplomatic note for visas) in less than a month”.”
That was when Akeredolu allegedly tried to leverage his father’s connections.
“Now everybody is jumping around, “my father called this and that person”. He would write it on groups. “I have called Ambassador this, I have called Senator Ita Giwa. All of them are friends of my father; they promised they would look into it.” Bottom line: nobody was able to get a visa.”
“We’ve missed four IFAF deadlines out of seven; the incompetence was clear. We kept going to the NSC to complain. Honestly, he has stooges (in the NSC). It’s all politics,” Sasore said.
The qualifications came in February, which should’ve given the team enough time to make preparations ahead of the start date, the championship games kick-off on August 13, 2026. They were supposed to arrive in Germany on August 10 for a media run the next day.
The overall fee for the competition was €60,000: a €10,000 acceptance fee and a €25,000 fee each for the male and female teams. This fee covers hotel accommodation, feeding, field use, and transportation, amongst other things. Yet Akeredolu allegedly did not release the money for it.
Sasore also said delegates were supposed to visit Germany in March, ahead of the championship’s start date, to inspect the facilities where players would stay and get a feel for the coming competition. Nobody went.
The team expected an explanation as it missed deadline after deadline, but that never came.
“The president doesn’t communicate anything. He just goes silent. We missed the deadline for jersey submission,” said Sasore. “After three weeks, I just took it upon myself, got a vendor, paid for the jersey, and begged IFAF (the international body which organises the championship). IFAF needs [us] to come. So they will let you be late. But this is the level of competence we are talking about.”
Akeredolu allegedly ran NFAF alongside his Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Nigeria American Football Association (NAFA), two roles of intersecting interests.
According to Sasore, the Nigerian team wore orange-and-brown jumpsuits at the African competition held in Egypt in 2025. These are the official colours of the Cleveland Browns, a professional team in the American National Football League (NFL), who sponsor NAFA.
Above: Pictures from the NFAF team’s arrival in Cairo, Egypt, 2025. Photo Credit: NAFA Instagram. Below: Photo of the Cleveland Browns, for comparison. Photo Credit: Facebook.
In some instances, when defending himself at board meetings, Akeredolu allegedly said that his father is bigger than the entire NFAF and he would not be in his position if not for his “passion for the federation”.
Has the National Sports Commission (NSC) taken any substantial action? According to Sasore, the NSC has pledged to establish a committee.
Some of the aggrieved NFAF leadership appear to have little hope in what is to come. And until the system holds responsible parties accountable, the real opponent isn’t Germany, or the visa office, or even Akeredolu; it’s a national sports culture that keeps finding new ways to disqualify itself.
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