The Technical Committee of the Nigeria
Football Federation will meet on Wednesday (today) in Abuja to prepare a
detailed report stating why the Super Eagles should need a foreign coach
for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and beyond.
The Assistant Director of Media and Publicity
of the NFF Ademola Olajire confirmed the schedule of the meeting to The
PUNCH on Tuesday.
He said, “The meeting is not just about the
foreign coach issue; there are a lot of other things to discuss. The Olympics
is by the corner, the ladies have very important competitions and so on.”
Sports minister Solomon Dalung demanded for a
technical report from the football house in support of a foreign coach for the
national team when he met with the NFF board members soon after the country
failed to qualify for Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The minister gave them
four weeks from the date of the meeting, which held in the last week of
March in Abuja.
The NFF members through their president
Amaju Pinnick had stated that they would no longer hire a Nigerian after Sunday
Oliseh resigned. They hinged their reason for a European on technical lapses they
had noticed in Nigerian coaches over time.
In his response, Dalung asked for proof
that the Eagles lost out on technical deficiencies on the part of the bench and
how the NFF would pay the foreigner the huge sum on the table. He argued
that if the NFF owed Nigerian officials, he needed to be convinced on how they
would pay an expatriate. He then added that the government would not pay the
foreigner.
The NFF on their part have stated clearly
that they have made an independent arrangement for the payment of the coach.
Before the last meeting between the NFF and
the minister, the football body was reportedly interested in hiring a Frenchman
as coach of the Eagles after the team failed to qualify for a second
consecutive AFCON.
A top official of the federation, who pleaded
anonymity, told our correspondents that the football body wanted a European
coach for the Eagles because Nigerian coaches lacked “an all-encompassing
manager with the managerial and technical abilities.”
He disclosed that ex-internationals Emmanuel
Amuneke and Salisu Yusuf would also assist the coach, who would be paid €44,000
monthly, if he eventually got the job.
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