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By Emma Njoku
An Olympian and former Super Falcons forward, Patience Avre-Odeli, has urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure that Nigeria picks one of the two tickets to represent Africa in the women’s football event at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Nigeria is drawn against minors, Sudan and Comoros, in the second round of the African qualifying phase which will be played in the weekend of October 5 and 13, 2026. The Super Falcons, however, face a tough road to qualification, thereafter, following the discovery that they will meet strong opponents in either Morocco or Congo, in the third round fixtures slated for the weekend of February 23 and March 6, 2027.
If Nigeria scales through the Morocco or Congo hurdle, the Super Falcons’ next opponent in the fourth round billed for October 4 and 12, 2027 will be the winner of the third round fixtures between Tunisia/Senegal versus Benin Republic/Mali.
Moreover, the fifth and final phases of the African qualifiers to be played in the weekend of November 23 and December 4, 2027 will pitch Nigeria against the 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, and Burkina Faso or Equatorial Guinea.
Against the backdrop of the envisaged rigorous route to 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 editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, has sounded an alarm that Nigeria runs the risk of not qualifying for the Summer Games in 2028 if adequate planning and early preparations are not put in place for the Super Falcons.
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Speaking from her United States base, Avre-Odeli 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 showpiece.
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, African qualifiers for the Olympic Games have always been tough because only two tickets are available for the continent, and Nigeria cannot afford to miss out.”
Speaking further, she tasked both the NSC and NFF on the need to take the Super Falcons preparations very seriously, stressing 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 at the Olympic Games.
“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 and pick one of the two African tickets to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games”, Avre-Odeli stated.
The Chairperson of the United Ex-Super Falcons Association insisted that Nigeria has quality players who can deliver the ticket, if only the sports administrators can put their acts right and support the team in its preparations and throughout the qualifying phases.
