Eric Sekou Chelle has been announced as the new Nigeria national team head coach by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), ending an eventful search for Finidi George’s replacement which lasted just over six months.
Chelle’s appointment comes four months after Bruno Labbadia was announced as Super Eagles head coach by the NFF, only for the 58-year-old German to declare within 48 hours that he would not be taking the role due to dissatisfaction with the terms.
Now that NFF have found their man for the job, who is Eric Chelle?
Born in Abidjan on November 11, 1977 to an Ivorian father and Malian mother, Chelle featured five times for the Eagles of Mali and enjoyed a career in the French league between 1998 and 2014.
A centre-back in his playing days, Chelle featured for Martigues, Valenciennes, RC Lens, Istres and Chamois Niortais, before going into coaching in 2014.
The 47-year-old started off his managerial career as assistant manager for two years at French amateur side, Athletico Marseille, before becoming the club’s manager in 2016.
Chelle moved to become Martigues manager in 2017 and was there until 2021 when he was appointed manager at Boulogne. His spell there was short-lived, winning just two of 16 matches before his exit in December 2021.
He became head coach of the Mali national team in May 2022 and led the Eagles to the quarter-final of AFCON 2023, where the team fell 2-1 to nine-man Cote D’Ivoire after extra-time.
Chelle left the role in June 2024 following a poor start to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign – Mali lost 2-1 at home to Ghana before playing out a goalless draw at Madagascar.
He was appointed coach of MC Oran of Algeria in October 2024 although did not oversee any official match with the club before taking up the reins of the Super Eagles in January 2025.