Chelle appoints Ozebagbe and Ortega to Nigeria’s Olympic Eagles coaching team

Eric Chelle has appointed Bright Osehai Ozebagbe and Deniran Ortega as assistants as he begins assembling Nigeria’s Under-23 coaching staff for the qualification campaign for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Chelle, who is also head coach of the Super Eagles, has taken charge of the Olympic Eagles as Nigeria attempt to return to the men’s Olympic football tournament for the first time since Rio 2016.

The appointments were reported by Nigerian journalist Mike the Pundit, who cited information from the National Sports Commission.

Nigeria have missed the past two men’s Olympic tournaments after failing to qualify for Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Their latest disappointment came in March 2023, when they were eliminated from the U23 Africa Cup of Nations during the final stage of qualifying.

The Olympic Eagles drew 0-0 with Guinea in Abuja in the first leg before losing 2-0 in Rabat. Algassime Bah opened the scoring in the 61st minute and Alseny Soumah added Guinea’s second goal 12 minutes later. The result ended Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the Paris tournament.

Nigeria’s most recent appearance at the men’s Olympic football competition came at Rio 2016, where they won the bronze medal. They have a strong record in the event, having claimed gold at Atlanta 1996 and silver at Beijing 2008.

Ozebagbe joins the setup with considerable coaching experience in Nigeria. He has previously worked with Union Bank, Staruf FC Lagos, Pepsi Academy and Barcelona Academy Lagos, and served as head coach of Bulmaro FC during the 2020-21 season.

In October 2022, Ikorodu City appointed Ozebagbe as chief coach alongside Sodiq Dabiri. At the time, the club said Ozebagbe held a CAF C licence and had worked as an elite coach and coordinator at Barcelona Academy Lagos.

Ortega offers experience from both Nigeria and Scotland. He has been involved with the Flying Eagles coaching staff and, in May 2026, the Nigeria Football Federation confirmed him as first assistant to Abdu Maikaba with the Under-20 team.

His career also includes a spell with Edinburgh City. He was part of the coaching staff that helped the club win the Lowland League title in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, before Edinburgh City moved into the Scottish Professional Football League.

Ortega later joined Enyimba as an assistant coach in 2017.

Chelle is expected to strengthen the Olympic Eagles coaching structure further by adding a foreign scout and another foreign assistant.

The team are expected to begin a training camp in Abuja soon, with qualifying matches due to start in November 2026. Nigeria will face either DR Congo or Mauritania in the qualifying race.

Chelle’s immediate challenge is to rebuild a team capable of ending Nigeria’s eight-year absence from men’s Olympic football and securing qualification for Los Angeles 2028.