Nigeria bans its football team for two years

The president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has banned the national football team from all competition for two years after their dismal showing at the World Cup.

The Super Eagles, as they are known, found themselves in a group along with Greece, South Korea and Argentina. They were favourites to qualify alongside Argentina, but ended up with just one point – thanks to a 2-2 draw with the Koreans in their final match – and finished bottom of the group.

Stars like Aiyegbeni Yakubu, Kanu and Obafemi Martins all failed to produce and they now face a lengthy period of introspection.

Ima Niboro, a spokesman for Jonathan, announced: "Mr President has directed that Nigeria will withdraw from all international football competition for the next two years to enable Nigeria to reorganise its football. This directive became necessary following the country's poor performance in the ongoing World Cup."

Jonathan has also called for the accounts of the Nigerian World Cup organising committee to be audited and the appointment of coach Lars Lagerback investigated. Niboro added: "If any financial misappropriation is discovered, all officials responsible will be held accountable."

The decision is unlikely to gain Nigeria any fans at Fifa, which takes a dim view of any political interference in the independent running of national federations.

"We have not received any official information on this subject. However, in general, the position of Fifa concerning political interference is well known," said the sport's governing body.

Perhaps unexpectedly, Jonathan's decision has been met with support from Nigerian football supporters. Dexter, a commenter on Nigerian news website Next said: "These set of corrupt so-called football administrators must face immediate investigation and prosecution if found criminally liable by all anti-corruption agencies with immediate effect... Let us use this period for proper planning and preparation by putting the right leadership in place and embarking on grass roots discovery of talented and skilled players."

Nigeria will now miss the 2012 African Cup of Nations, for which they were set to begin their qualification bid against Madagascar in September. ·