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Tag: NFF

  • Reactions trail sacking of Rohr as Super Eagles Coach

    Reactions trail sacking of Rohr as Super Eagles Coach

    The sacking of former Chief Coach of Super Eagles of Nigeria, Garnet Rohr, by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has continued to generate reactions by football stakeholders.

    The NFF announced the termination of the appointment of Franco-German Rohr who has been in charge of the Super Eagles for 64 months on Sunday.

    It also announced the appointment of Mr Augustine Eguavoen, currently Super Eagles Technical Director, as their Technical Adviser on an interim basis.

    Football buffs and other stakeholders who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Monday had divergent views.

    While some believed that the sacking of Rohr was ill-timed other said his sacking was long overdue.

    Judex Okoro, a sports journalist said Rohr’s sack was long-expected and that the widely travelled tactician had lost touch with modern football coaching.

    “The sacking of Rohr is long overdue because apart from his lack of vision for Nigerian football, he has since lost touch with the modern tactics.

    “For four years, he has not won any cup for Nigeria. He has not inspired the Super Eagles to play good football which we were known for, thereby making many Nigerians to lose interest in our national team,’’ he said.

    Okoro also charged Rohr of not doing anything to improve local talents.

    Another sports journalist, Isaac Oqua said Rohr’s sack was imperative because of his lack of a technical department.

    “He’s the longest serving Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles but with nothing to show.

    “He couldn’t develop a peculiar playing pattern for the team unlike his predecessors.

    “The standard of the team has nosedived under his watch.

    “He failed to follow the local league and by so doing couldn’t discover talents to groom for future,’’ he said.

    According to him, Rohr had no track record of achievements prior to his appointment as Super Eagles Head Coach

    In his contribution, Oqua Etim, former Chairman of Sports Writers Association, Cross River, said it was good to relieve Rohr of his duties since he did not do any better than indigenous coaches.

    “Before he came on board the impression was that, a foreign coach would develop our football and give it a different dimension.

    “Incidentally, since Rohr was given the job he has done nothing spectacular. He did not develop local content for our football, so, why keep him?’’ he said.

    Etim added that Nigerian football was known for its entertainment style which Nigerian football lovers enjoyed much “but this has not been the case since he took over.’’

    He gave kudos to Rohr, however, for improving Nigeria’s position in FIFA ranking.

    He advised NFF to look inwards for some local coaches that can handle the team instead of rushing for foreign coaches.

    A football fan, Emmanuel Udoh, however, said the timing of Rohr’s sack was wrong due to the forthcoming African Cup of Nations tournament slated for Republic of Cameroun.

    “To me I don’t say they should not sack him, but why now when we have upcoming Nations Cup’’? he said.

    Udoh argued that, the situation might affect the team negatively.

  • BREAKING: NFF fires Rohr, appoints Eguavoen interim Super Eagles coach

    BREAKING: NFF fires Rohr, appoints Eguavoen interim Super Eagles coach

    The Nigeria Football Federation has appointed Mr Augustine Eguavoen, currently its Technical Director, as the Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles on an interim basis.

    This is with immediate effect, and follows the termination of the relationship with Franco-German Gernot Rohr, who has been in charge of the three –time African champions for the past 64 months, and is Nigeria’s longest –serving manager.

    Following a virtual meeting of the NFF Executive Committee on Sunday, it was decided that Eguavoen will work with Salisu Yusuf (Chief Coach); Paul Aigbogun (Assistant Coach); Joseph Yobo (Assistant Coach); Dr Terry Eguaoje (Assistant Coach) and Aloysius Agu (Goalkeeper Trainer). Former Nigeria captains Augustine ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Garba Lawal have been appointed to provide technical and ambassadorial support for the crew.

    General Secretary of the NFF, Dr Mohammed Sanusi said: “The relationship between the Nigeria Football Federation and Mr Rohr has come to an end. We thank him for his services to the Super Eagles and Nigeria.

    “We also want to thank the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports for their collaboration and guidance all through.”

    Eguavoen, a former Nigeria captain, was coach of the squad when it finished in third place at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in 2006. He was on-field captain when the Super Eagles lifted the Africa Cup for the first time on away ground, in Tunisia 27 years ago.

    He will now take charge of the team as it begins preparations for the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations taking place in Cameroon 9th January – 6th February 2022, and until the appointment of a substantive Head Coach.

  • NFF in talks with Brentford over Bernardo Cueva

    NFF in talks with Brentford over Bernardo Cueva

    The Norwegian Football Federation, NFF are in talks with Brentford for coach Bernardo Cueva.

    Known as the ‘deadball doctor’, Cueva is wanted by Norway coach Stale Solbakken for their Euro qualifying campaign.

    The NFF wish to take Cueva on-loan from Brentford during international games.

    Solbakken explained: “He will probably continue.

    “We have received a clear signal from Brentford to negotiate with him and hope he will join the next qualifier.

    “Brentford had to give up their best expert to (Manchester) City and (Pep) Guardiola. Then Arsenal took their expert number two, and Bernardo came in as number three.”

  • NFF identifies Gernot Rohr’s replacement

    NFF identifies Gernot Rohr’s replacement

    The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, is considering hiring Serbian Mladen Krstajić as new head coach of the Super Eagles.

    Pressure has mounted on the NFF to sack Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr, after the national team put up an underwhelming performance against Cape Verde in their Qatar 2022 World Cup Group C final qualifier at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, last Tuesday.

    Federation officials held a crucial meeting to decide the future of Rohr, following the nervy 1-1 draw against the Cape Verdeans, to evaluate Rohr’s performance since he took charge of the team August 2016.

    The Franco-German’s current deal expires December 2022, but the Eagles’ recent poor run of form, which included a 1-0 home defeat to minnows Central African Republic in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, sparked calls for his dismissal.

    It’s understood that both the NFF and Rohr have entered into negotiations on how to part ways by mutual consent.

    In a chat with The PUNCH on Sunday, a top official of the federation, who spoke on condition of anonymity said Krstajić was among the coaches the NFF was considering, adding that they had not taken a final decision, since Rohr had not been sacked.

    “We haven’t taken an official decision yet, but Serbian Malden Krstajić is one of the coaches we are considering for the job,” the source said.

    “We cannot hire a new coach when the current coach has not been sacked. So, I don’t know where the online platforms got their stories from. Like I said, he’s among those we are considering for the job, but we haven’t given him a job yet.”

    Krstajić managed Serbia’s national team from 2017 to 2019, leading them to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where they crashed out from the group stage.

    He quit as manager of FK TSC Bačka Topola, a Serbian SuperLiga side, last October, after just 10 months in charge, thus fuelling speculations he might be the next man for the Eagles’ coaching role.

  • Super Eagles: Gernot Rohr to know fate next week – Minister

    Super Eagles: Gernot Rohr to know fate next week – Minister

    The Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare, says the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will decide the fate of Super Eagles Head Coach, Gernot Rohr, next week.

    Dare stated this on Thursday at the weekly ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to the minister, Rohr’s future with the Super Eagles will depend on a report to be submitted by the NFF in the coming days.

    He said “Once we have national matches like these, there is an operating procedure.

    “First, the NFF will receive a technical report that analyses the game. And based on that, we will review, scrutinize and benchmark the report. Thereafter it will make a decision either about the players or about the coaching staff.

    “The ministry is waiting for that report from the NFF. What it will contain or recommend, I cannot say for now. Before the end of the week, we’ll have that report and it will touch on many areas.”

    “We know what the concerns are. We’ll do whatever is necessary and we’ll be timely about it to make sure Nigeria’s football is of the highest quality and that we’ll play in Qatar,” he added.

    Speaking on athletes’ welfare, the minister revealed that his ministry had tripled its remunerations to athletes representing the country in various global tournaments including the Olympics.

    He, however, disclosed that the ministry still owes 54 athletes a total of N44.37m in bonuses and remunerations.

    “For the first time in a long time, we have decided to triple the bonuses for the out athletes. We tripled their bonuses too.

    “We also moved away from just giving them naira to giving them dollars because when you check other countries and what they pay their athletes, they pay in dollars.

    “The Paralympians who won 10 medals, less than eight weeks after they returned, we paid them a bonus of 15,000 dollars for gold, 10,000 dollars for silver and 7,500 dollars for bronze.

    “We still have a few outstanding; we have a balance of 2,000 dollars to pay to about 54 athletes. And that’s because I increased their allowances from 3,500 dollars to 6,000 dollars at the Olympics.

    “So, we had to rework our budgets and we are almost there. As we speak $4,000 has been paid to all of them. The 2,000 dollars will be available soon,” he said.

  • We’re not aware of Gernot Rohr’s sack – NFF

    We’re not aware of Gernot Rohr’s sack – NFF

    Contrary to reports circulating on social media on Thursday that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has sacked Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr, the federation’s Assistant Director, Media, Ademola Olajire, has denied knowledge of the development.

    Olajire insisted that it’s only after a board meeting of the NFF and a signed statement released that Rohr’s sack could be authenticated.

    “I’m not aware of Rohr’s sack because there are procedures for doing things at the federation.

    “Before such a decision could be taken, there will be a meeting of the NFF board and a release issued to the public.

    “As for now, I’m not aware of the sack. The online platform you claimed reported the story cannot announce his sack without confirmation from the NFF,” Olajire told Sportingsun.

    Reports had emerged online on Thursday morning that the NFF sacked Rohr following Nigeria’s World Cup qualifier 1-1 draw with Cape Verde.

    Rohr was appointed head coach of the Super Eagles in August 2016.

    The German tactician led the team to a third-place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

    His conservative approach and Super Eagles’ uninspiring performances have been heavily criticised by the media and supporters.

  • Orji Kalu wants Gernot Rohr sacked as Super Eagles coach

    Orji Kalu wants Gernot Rohr sacked as Super Eagles coach

    The Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, has called for the sack of Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr.

    Kalu in a post on his official Facebook page told the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to sack Rohr over poor performance

    He stated that Nigerian soccer lovers don’t need further dissatisfaction from Rohr adding that he is not a good coach.

    Kalu said, “In the last five years, we have wasted our time in football. There is nothing new we are doing any longer. To see a country with many professional players home and abroad struggling to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup is heartbreaking. Gernot Rohr is not a good coach and I don’t understand why he is still managing Super Eagles.”

    The Senator further revealed that Rohr had applied to become Enyimba’s coach when he was Governor but he denied him the opportunity.

    ”He was brought to Nigeria by Oscar Udoji but I refused to employ him.

    “I am calling on the Chairman of NFF, Mr. Amaju Pinnick to wake up and to quickly find a replacement for Rohr. We, soccer lovers, don’t need further dissatisfaction in a game, we have the capacity to make ourselves proud.”

    Kalu added that If Rohr has the same problem while coaching every year then he is not a leader.

    ”You are rather a problem on your own that must be solved,” he added.

    This is coming less than two days after Nigeria played a 1-1 draw with Cape Verde in a World Cup qualifier in Lagos.

    Rohr was appointed Super Eagles manager in 2016.

  • PFAN knocks federation over demands for NFF’s statutes 2010 amendment

    PFAN knocks federation over demands for NFF’s statutes 2010 amendment

    The Project 2022 Taskforce, an offshoot of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), says it will seek justice from appropriate institutions against the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over refusal to amend the “NFF’s Statutes 2010”.

    The taskforce disclosed this in a statement signed by its Chairman/facilitator, Harrison Jalla and Secretary, Edema Fuludu, copies of which were made available to newsmen on Monday, in Warri.

    Recalled that the taskforce had, on June 26, 2021 at a press briefing in Warri, issued a 90-day notice to the Federation to amend the NFF’s Statutes 2010 which, according to them, would put the nation’s football on the part of growth.

    “In view of the above, the Taskforce wrote a letter to the NFF to communicate its demands with a 90-day mandatory notice from June 26, 2021, vide the relevant provisions of Article 27, sub 182 of the NFF’s Statutes 2010.

    “The NFF failed to acknowledge or respond to the letter of demands, at the expiration of the 90-day notice.

    “A 14 days grace period or reminder was further given to them to effect the relevant amendments, yet it was not complied with.

    “Having exhausted all avenues of due process as enshrined in the various provisions of FIFA, CAF, NFF and the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Taskforce is left with the only option to commence the process of getting justice from the appropriate institutions/authorities.

    “The agitation is not to witch-hunt anybody, but to ensure that football is revived in Nigeria,” the group said.

    The taskforce noted that the NFF’s Statutes 2010 was responsible for the slow pace of football development in the country.

    The Congress of the general assembly of the NFF had 44 members, including States’ Football Associations with 37 while Leagues, Coaches, Referees and the PFAN had one member each, the taskforce noted.

    “The rules must be amended to reflect equal representation. We stand by that and we are going to do everything possible within the ambit of the law to reflect that,” the group said.

    According to the taskforce, the NFF’s Statutes 2010 should be amended to address: the current composition of the NFF Congress; composition of the NFF Executive Committee; voting pattern, among others.

    The group frowned at the attitude of the nation’s football ruling body to its demands, but conceded that it had agreed to rely on the status of its members, as major Stakeholders in the football industry, to pursue their demands to a logical conclusion.

  • Odion Ighalo set for Super Eagles return

    Odion Ighalo set for Super Eagles return

    President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has revealed Al Shabab striker, Odion Ighalo is likely to return to the Nigerian national team.

    TheNewsGuru reports that Ighalo announced his retirement in 2019, after he emerged top scorer at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

    According to Amaju Pinnick who spoke with the striker about a possible return said, “I had a long conversation with Odion Ighalo, personally I believe we need experience in our attack to combine with our energetic youthful Osimhen, Onuachu, Kelechi et al.

    “Odion’s body language is very positive. We are also in touch with his agents and club.

    “The vibe going into these last two games and indeed Afcon is very good,” Pinnick wrote on Instagram.

  • NFF re-instates Salisu Yusuf as coach after bribery ban

    NFF re-instates Salisu Yusuf as coach after bribery ban

    The Executive Committee of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF has approved the re-instatement of Coach Salisu Yusuf to his position as Assistant Coach of the Super Eagles and Head Coach of the Super Eagles B team, with effect from 1st November 2021.

    General Secretary of the NFF, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, disclosed on Thursday that the re-instatement of the former Kano Pillars, Enyimba FC and Rangers International FC gaffer by the NFF Board was on the recommendation of the NFF Technical Department.

    Highly respected for his match –reading ability, calm demeanour and proficiency in talent discovery and development, Yusuf, in his playing days featured for Rancher Bees of Kaduna and El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri, among others.

    Yusuf’s return to the three-time African champions coincides with the closing stages of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying second round phase and the commencement of preparations for the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations finals taking place in Cameroon early next year.

    Recall that Salisu was in August 2018 caught on camera accepting cash from men who posed as football agents to select two players for his Morocco 2018 African Nations Championship squad.

    He was ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 by the federation after the NFF Ethics and Fair Play Committee ruled that the coach received $1,000 from the men.