News

Minister Of Sports Summons NFF Over It's Decision To Hire Foreign Coach

Published

10 years ago

October 17, 2014

Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Tammy Danagogo yesterday said that he has summoned the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick and his board to explain why they have decided to hire a foreign coach for the Super Eagles.
The NFF board rose from its late night meeting on Wednesday to announce a wide range of decisions including hiring of a foreign coach and the sacking of Coach Stephen Keshi.
In the interim, Coach Amodu Shuaibu who had in the past handled the team was named as the replacement of Keshi for the two remaining matches of the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) championship coming up in Morocco.
Commenting on the decision of the board in Abuja during a chat with journalists, Danagogo revealed that he was not privy to the sacking of Keshi even as he explained that he will meet with the board on the idea of getting a foreign coach.
According to the minister who apparently did not like the decision to employ a foreign coach for the country, that will run contrary to the ideology of the NSC which he said is aimed at empowering and developing the Nigerian coaches.
However, Danagogo who assured that the NSC will not interfere in any decisions of the board insisted that the NFF must be responsible for any outcome of their decision because any job that Nigerians can do must be given to them.
“I will say I was surprised to hear the sack of Keshi early this morning. I must tell you the truth I do not believe in most of the decisions they took. I am aware that there has been this continuous call for the sack of Stephen Keshi. I am also aware that it is actually the responsibility of the NFF to hire and fire any coach they want.
“In as much as I know that what they have done is their responsibility; I am still looking at it. Sincerely I woke up this morning to hear the shocking news. I expected that he would have been sacked after the loss in Sudan. From the way they were reacting before I spoke to them against taking such a decision. But with the good result of Wednesday’s match, I was not expecting anything like sack from the NFF.
“I called them this morning when I heard it in view of my discussion with them over the matter, after the Sudan match. But they said that they had to take the decision after a late night meeting of the board yesterday as the best option for the team to move forward”.
Commenting on the way forward for Nigerian football, Danagogo who accepted that football in the country has been going down said his commission will continue to give the necessary support and assistance to the federation.
“Our programme here is to ensure the growth of our indigenous coaches. Does it mean that we do not have good coaches at home that can do the job very well? If they can give good reasons for the decision to go for a foreign coach, well it is
their decision to make but I must wait until I see the record of the person they want to bring” Danagogo concluded.