The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has been urged to take the “necessary steps” and not wait until the Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr fails to meet up with their demands.
Rohr has come under fire in recent weeks after he failed to win a single game in the year, and one that seemed to have broken the camel’s back was the disappointing two legged AFCON qualifiers against Sierra Leone that both ended in a stalemate draw.
The Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Sunday Dare on Tuesday, sounded a note of warning to the country’s football governing body during a meeting with its officials to review the Technical Report of the Nigeria/Sierra Leone AFCON Qualifiers and other matches.
“The NFF must tightly hold the Technical Adviser to the KPIs in his contract,” Dare said in a statement issued by his Special adviser on media, John Akanji, titled, ‘National football team: Hold Rohr to higher standards – Ministry’.
He continued, “Thus, we cannot wait for those conditions to come to life before we tighten the screws or demand higher or better performance, else Nigeria and Football lovers in Nigeria will be the greatest losers.”
“In this area, NFF must take the necessary steps and actions beyond Rohr to protect our football fortunes.
“The right of Nigerians to ask of Government and indeed NFF explanations for dismal performances and football administration cannot be simply characterised as interference.
“NFF should be more concerned about the failure of technical depth and absence of a defense mechanism which were glaring during the encounter with Sierra Leone rather than the rush to defend the contract of the Technical Adviser.
“Starting now, Nigeria must demand higher or better performance from the technical adviser. We can’t wait until he fails to qualify our team for AFCON and the World Cup before we start to ask the tough questions. In this respect, I charge the NFF leadership to immediately take the necessary steps to protect our football fortunes.”
The NFF President, Mr. Amaju Pinnick, while providing a background to what happened, assured the Minister that “NFF will not shirk in its responsibilities”.
He said that “a few changes and adjustments as discussed and suggested by the ministry will be put into motion”.
