Sports minister says Eagles’ failure collective responsibility, not Siasia alone

Sports Minister Yusuf Suleiman on Tuesday in Abuja said coach Samson Siasia should not be blamed for Super Eagles' failure to qualify for the 2012 African Nations Cup finals. Suleiman told sports journalists during an interview session that there was no need for the football authorities to take any drastic and hasty action on the issue.

``Rather, we should look into what happened and why it did, for us to be able to plan for the future and prevent a recurrence,'' he said.

The minister said Nigerians should look at the team's failure from the angle of using it to plan for the future. ``The result was bad for us, no doubt, but we have to look beyond it and try to rise above it for the sake of our football and our youths,'' he said.

Suleiman said the Super Eagles' failure should be assessed from the standpoint that African football had grown considerably over the past few years.

``What has happened is not country-specific, but it concerns five major continental superpowers. They have all failed to qualify, while the so-called small countries are doing well.

``But it tells us that Guinea, which is one of such countries, has players who are more hungry for success and looking for fame.

``On the other hand, our players who are already well-established in the game abroad appear not to be as hungry as these upcoming ones,'' he said.

The minister said the situation, therefore, called for caution instead of drastic actions that could, in the long run, be too hasty.``There is no need for any drastic action. We should all look into this matter and I will soon initiate this. We will all sit down with the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) and all other stakeholders.

``We will have to take a look at what went wrong and then tackle the issue of letting our players know that they are not alone in this. ``We need to let them know that when they fail to achieve, it affects about 150 million Nigerians, and it is not good to toy with the emotions of such a large number of people,'' he said.

The NSC Chairman, however, ruled out setting up a committee to look into the team's failure. ``That may not be necessary. I think it is better for us all to sit together on this with the NFA officials to find a solution,'' he said.