The Nigeria Football Federation have dismissed reports that top officials are interfering with the work of Eagles coach Stephen Keshi.
A section of the media has been awash with stories of purported interference in the work of coach Keshi by top officials including chairman of technical committee, Chris Green, particularly with regards to selection of players for forthcoming World Cup and Nations Cup qualifying matches.
NFF boss Aminu Maigari decried the insinuations on Wednesday, saying that the NFF can only support Keshi and his team at this very crucial period that the team are preparing for a hectic schedule of important matches.
“The only thing NFF as a Federation can do at this period is to give Keshi and the entire team all the necessary support. That is what we are doing,” maintained Maigari. “I have not called for any inquisition into what he is doing or how he picked players for the upcoming matches, and I can assure you that nobody is doing anything like that.
“Of course, there is corporate desire and ambition for the Super Eagles to do well in the matches against Namibia, Malawi and Rwanda. But we are not coaches and there is a limit to the moves that we can make.
“There is someone we have signed a contract with to deliver the 2014 World Cup and 2013 African Cup of Nations tickets, and we have a responsibility to allow him to do the job the way he knows best and simply give him all the support that is necessary.”
Keshi, who captained the Eagles for 11 years, leading Nigeria to a first World Cup finals in 1994, signed a four-year agreement with the NFF in November 2011, with the mandate to qualify the country for the 2013 African Cup of Nations and Brazil 2014.
Under Keshi, the Eagles have played a total of seven matches, winning two, drawing three and losing two, including last week’s friendly away to Peru in Lima. On Sunday, at the U. J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar, Nigeria host Brave Warriors of Namibia in a 2014 World Cup qualification campaign with the team flying out to Malawi on Thursday for a Day Two match against the Flames in Blantyre on June 9. They will return home to play Rwanda in a 2013 Nations Cup qualifier also in Calabar on June 17.
“The only thing NFF as a Federation can do at this period is to give Keshi and the entire team all the necessary support. That is what we are doing,” maintained Maigari. “I have not called for any inquisition into what he is doing or how he picked players for the upcoming matches, and I can assure you that nobody is doing anything like that.
“Of course, there is corporate desire and ambition for the Super Eagles to do well in the matches against Namibia, Malawi and Rwanda. But we are not coaches and there is a limit to the moves that we can make.
“There is someone we have signed a contract with to deliver the 2014 World Cup and 2013 African Cup of Nations tickets, and we have a responsibility to allow him to do the job the way he knows best and simply give him all the support that is necessary.”
Keshi, who captained the Eagles for 11 years, leading Nigeria to a first World Cup finals in 1994, signed a four-year agreement with the NFF in November 2011, with the mandate to qualify the country for the 2013 African Cup of Nations and Brazil 2014.
Under Keshi, the Eagles have played a total of seven matches, winning two, drawing three and losing two, including last week’s friendly away to Peru in Lima. On Sunday, at the U. J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar, Nigeria host Brave Warriors of Namibia in a 2014 World Cup qualification campaign with the team flying out to Malawi on Thursday for a Day Two match against the Flames in Blantyre on June 9. They will return home to play Rwanda in a 2013 Nations Cup qualifier also in Calabar on June 17.
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