Sekou Chelle Takes Over As Super Eagles Coach

Mali native, Eric Sekou Chelle, has been appointed head coach of Nigeria's senior national football team, the Super Eagles.

His appointment was made public Monday by the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, executive committee after giving its formal endorsement his recommendation by the Technical and Development Sub-Committee of the federation. 

With the confirmation, the 47 year-old Malian takes over from interim manager, Austin Eguavoen, and is expected to guide the Nigerian team through its next qualifying matches scheduled for March.

Recall that the team was led by Finidi George who garnered an unimpressive performance in the run-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, a reason for which he was shown the exit door. He was replace by Eguavoen in an adhoc capacity. 

Chelle is coming into the Super Eagles job with an impressive managerial credentials, including a largely successful stint as manager of Mali's national team. He the team to the quarter finals of the 2023 African Cup of Nations, AFCON, held in Cote D'voire before quitting the job in 2024. 

His coaching pedigree also includes managerial stints at GS Consolat, better known as FC Marseille; FC Martigues, Boulogne, all in France, and Algeria's MC Oran.

Chelle, who had his playing career mainly in France, was born in Côte d’Ivoire to a French father and a Malian mother. However, he opted to represent Mali at the international level even though he was also eligible to represent Côte d’Ivoire and France, and Mali.