Failure of the Golden Eaglets to qualify for this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup has effectively terminated the contracts of coach Nduka Ugbade and his assistants, officials told SCORENigeria

“The appointment of Nduka (Ugbade) and his assistants was clearly tied to the progress of the team at major competitions,” explained a top NFF official.

“They held on to their positions after they qualified the team to the U17 AFCON last year.

“But now that the team failed to qualify for the World Cup, their appointments are terminated.”

Ugbade’s assistants include Ahmadu Dankoli and Yemi Olanrewaju ‘Yema’.

The sacked coaches will submit a technical report to the NFF technical department, which will subsequently forward this with recommendations to the NFF technical committee that has yet to be constituted.

On Thursday, the Eaglets failed to pick a ticket to the U17 World Cup when they fell 2-1 to Burkina Faso in the quarterfinal of the U17 AFCON in Algeria.

Incidentally, Nigeria stopped the Junior Etalons from Burkina Faso 2-1 to win the WAFU B qualifiers in June in Ghana.

For Ugbade, who made history when he lifted the inaugural FIFA U17 World Cup trophy in 1985 in China, his first attempt to lead the Golden Eaglets has ended prematurely.

The former Super Eagles fullback was second assistant when Nigeria won a fourth U17 World Cup in 2013.

He was thereafter first assistant coach to Manu Garba when the team failed to make progress at international level.

No NFF official could be reached last night to throw light on the sacked coaches.

Thisday