Enugu Rangers head coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu has highlighted several reasons why many former international players avoid taking up coaching roles in the NPFL.

In a recent interview with Brila.net, Ilechukwu discussed the challenges and pressures that deter ex-players from returning to the domestic league as coaches.

Ilechukwu pointed out that the stress and pressure of coaching in the NPFL are significant deterrents for many former players who have already experienced the intense demands of professional football during their playing careers.

“In a situation where 100 people play ball as national team players, those that are going to be coaches in 100 people will not be more than 10. They can’t be more than 10% because of the pressure, so people are running away from it,” Ilechukwu explained.

He emphasized that the coaching job is not appealing due to the high demands and the lack of proper league structures in Nigeria which make the role even more challenging compared to Europe.

“It’s not going to be possible because the job is not a good job. You cannot play ball and live a very good life and come back and want to end up in a worse situation, especially in Africa because the way we do things here are different from the way they do things in Europe,” he said.

Ilechukwu also mentioned that the demands and pressures of coaching in Nigeria are exacerbated by the involvement of individuals with little football knowledge who are appointed to administrative roles, often leading to conflicts and frustrations for coaches.

“Even talking about Europe, it’s totally different and people can manage it, but here it’s very demanding and they don’t want to be in that worse situation,” Ilechukwu continued.

“You know what it means? Player playing ball on the highest level and coming so low still against some people that government give job that don’t even know about football.”

He added that many ex-players are unwilling to subject themselves to criticism and disrespect from individuals who lack proper football knowledge and experience, which further discourages them from pursuing coaching roles in the NPFL.

“I mean, they don’t know about much in football. I got men give them job and they are doing their job. And the person will come in to insult you and tell you things that is not, some people will not cope with it. That is the problem,” he stated.

Ilechukwu concluded by suggesting that improving the overall structure and management of the league would make coaching roles more appealing to former internationals.

“So if you start getting it right from up, then you are going to see so many ex-internationals people to coach,” he concluded.