Former Nigerian Beach Soccer player, Ogbonanya Okemmiri, has urged the Beach Soccer sub-committee and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to use the recent failure to qualify for the Beach Soccer AFCON as a catalyst for better preparation in the future.

In an interview with Brila.net, Okemmiri attributed the failure to inadequate preparation following a five-year hiatus from the sport.

Okemmiri spoke on the importance of consistent training and team cohesion, urging the NFF to ensure the players are kept active and together in anticipation of upcoming competitions.

“My advice for them is to give them adequate preparation and time, so they will be well-prepared. The coaches need to work really hard to organize the players because beach soccer is not ordinary football. It requires strength, experience, and composure,” he stated.

He criticized the recent approach of assembling players from various leagues just a week before the qualifiers, arguing that it was insufficient and asked for a step up of efforts from the NFF.

“It’s just picking players from all different leagues and assembling them within a week. Even that week is not enough. The national team needs at least three weeks to a month to prepare adequately,” he added.

“The NFF needs to step up also because it’s just a one-week preparation for them to go for a qualifier after how many years. So it’s not going to be easy,” Okemmiri concluded.