Some football fans on Tuesday in Lagos urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to reconsider its decision not to hire indigenous coaches to manage the senior national team, Super Eagles.
The fans spoke against the backdrop of the statement “No more Nigerian coaches for Super Eagles’’, credited to the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, on Sunday.
They said that instead, the NFF should develop local coaches to meet global standards.
A commercial bus driver, Yusuf Jasmin, said the Eagles needed a coach that could understand the players and not necessarily a foreigner that did not know how to handle them.
“We have been going back and forth for decades on bettering football in the country and till date we do not have a clue on how to tackle the issue.
“I still don’t understand why a fellow Nigerian is not seen as fit for the coaching position of our national team and we want to turn to the whites that are racist.
“We need someone who will understand our players and not a white coach that will come and create more problems for the team,’’ he said.
An athlete, Efe Osaruwa, accused the NFF of causing confusion for the Eagles by not allowing the appropriate authorities to carry out their duties without distraction.
“A lot can be said about the NFF but the most important now in respect of this issue is the fact that they disguise themselves as advisers but truly are causing confusion.
If you recall that before Shuaibu Amodu and his team, the NFF employed Bonfre Jo, Philip Trousiere and others who were foreign nationals that were pushed off the post too.
“Does this mean that with the battalion of coaches the national team has had, no one can be singled out as proficient?
“We have been pointing fingers at the wrong place but it is now clear that the NFF and its leadership are to blame for our setback,’’ he said.
Another fan, Adekunle Aremu, a final year student of LASPOTECH, said leadership of the NFF should be queried for not keeping to the promise made to coaches when they are hired.
“It is corruption that has been our problem in the team.
“Monies are not paid in due time to players and the technical team because someone is probably sitting on what does not belong to him.
“If we must achieve results in the Super Eagles, NFF should be probed and its leadership changed.
“The president should declare a state of emergency in football or else we won’t be able to achieve anything in the next few qualifiers and competitions ahead of us,’’ he said.
According to him, the Super Eagles have lost great coaches due to breach of contracts and it should be dealt with by the NFF leadership.
The NFF has insisted on having expatriates to head the technical crews of the various national teams, but the back-room staff would still be headed by the indigenous coaches.
Sunday Oliseh, former coach of the team had last Friday announced his resignation on his Twitter handle.
Oliseh cited the inability of the NFF to honour the terms of his contract as part of his reasons for quitting the job.
“Due to contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages, benefits to my players, assistant coaches and myself, I resign as Super Eagles Chief Coach,’’ he tweeted.
Oliseh, whose appointment was made with much fanfare by the NFF, soon started having problems with the NFF executive over remuneration, match tactics and results.
