In order to clear a lot of falsehood that has been making
the rounds in sections of the media following the resignation of Coach Sunday Oliseh,
the Nigeria Football Federation has decided to make a statement regarding
events relating to the employment and resignation of the Super Eagles Coach.
First of all, the NFF would like to state that contrary to
what few members of the media would have Nigerians believe, the appointment of
Mr. Sunday Oliseh as Head Coach of the Super Eagles was thoroughly
thought-through; it went through a meeting between himself and the Technical
Committee and was ultimately approved by the entire Executive Committee of the
NFF.
The NFF had the best of intentions in hiring Mr. Sunday Oliseh,
and despite the misgivings about his temperament (he himself alluded to this at
his unveiling) he was seen as a bright young Coach able to take the Super
Eagles to new heights. This view was premised on his resume, (having played in
various countries around the world), his undoubted football knowledge and his
currency of ideas (being a respected former Super Eagles Captain and a member
of the FIFA Technical Study Group).
The fact that from Mr. Oliseh's perspective, the
relationship had gone so awry to the extent that he resigned his appointment is
unfortunate because despite the temporary financial difficulties which crept
into the relationship in the last 4 (four) months or thereabouts, the NFF Executive
Board with its penchant for long term planning took a long term view of his
appointment and remains confident that with a little more patience on the part
of the Coach, things would have turned around for the better in the long run.
The NFF seizes the opportunity to apologise to Nigerians for
the situation that we, through no fault of ours, find ourselves, but assures
the teeming Super Eagles supporters that we shall patriotically remain
committed to the success of the team. This is already evidenced by the
swiftness with which we have reconstituted the coaching crew and received the
assurances of the patriotism of the Super Eagles players who have vowed to
fight for the Nigerian flag and spirit, and ensure that not only do we qualify
for the African Nations Cup but also that our long term goals are not derailed.
The NFF gives the foregoing assurances despite the
circumstance which has arisen with the untimely resignation of Coach Sunday Oliseh
and despite the fact that the decision was taken unilaterally without
discussion with NFF or any of its officials or board members, without giving
the requisite 1 (one) months notice as stipulated in his contract immediately
after he was paid his arrears of salary and housing allowance after his request
to travel across Europe to visit potential call ups for the matches against
Egypt was approved by the President of the NFF and; despite the fact that we
have crucial qualifying matches to play next month
With regard to the various allegations made against the NFF
by Mr. Sunday Oliseh in his letter of resignation and in the media,
the NFF as a responsible organisation feels the need to this once respond to
those allegations as follows, and thereafter continue with the job at hand
without any further distractions:
Mr. Sunday Oliseh in his letter of resignation and
in various reports has talked about not being respected, and not getting the
support of the NFF. The NFF categorically denies these allegations and notes
that from the time of his employment the NFF had always shown him respect
which, unfortunately, not always reciprocated.
In order to encourage him, to exhibit an intention to put
the issue of financial disagreements with coaches behind the Federation and to
help the new Coach quickly settle down, the NFF proceeded to pay him three
months’ salary in advance – something that had never happened previously in
Nigeria football.
The NFF introduced him to our principal partners/sponsors in
order to show that the Federation had total regard for and was fully supporting
its coach. The President thereafter reiterated the vision of the NFF board and
its mandate to the new coach to build a new and vibrant team that the
Government and people of this country would be proud of. The NFF has since then
allowed him to carry on his duties without interference. The NFF also purchased
for Mr. Oliseh a brand new car to ease his movement locally whenever he was in
Nigeria.
With regard to the allegation that he was not supported, it
is pertinent to note that Mr. Oliseh himself had on numerous occasions
expressed gratitude for the support he had received from the NFF and in
particular from the NFF President and Vice Presidents. The NFF makes bold to
say that he has been supported throughout his short tenure as the Super Eagles
coach. Not only have his requests and choice of training camps been accepted,
his choice of players have never been interfered with, his choice of venues
have all but once been accepted and even where not accepted, an explanation was
promptly given which was duly appreciated and accepted by the coach.
Only a few minutes before sending an email intimating the
NFF of his resignation, Mr. Oliseh had written a mail to the NFF President
about his trip across Europe to see players, which the NFF President had
approved the day before.
For the competitive matches against Tanzania, Burkina Faso
and Swaziland that the Super Eagles played away from home under Coach Oliseh,
the NFF despite its financial constraints flew the team by chartered aircraft
at the request of the coach.
It is pertinent to note also that, despite its financial
constraints, the NFF acceded to Coach Oliseh's insistence on camping the CHAN
team in South Africa. His show of appreciation was to go on air to talk about
spending his money to buy food for the team in South Africa. The truth is that
the team stayed at a world -class facility where buffet feeding had been
arranged. Coach Oliseh opted to buy Nigerian food for the players on two (2)
occasions, without alerting the NFF or the hotel management. Food meant for the
team on those two occasions went to waste.
In support of Coach Oliseh and in a bid to give him some
confidence regarding the issue of finance, the NFF top echelon traveled to
Rwanda at their own expense along with the Minister of Youth and Sports, in
order that the coach and the team would have the opportunity of hearing
first-hand from the Minister the challenges the NFF was facing with regards to
funds. The Minister told the team clearly that the financial problems were not
the fault of the NFF and promised to do his utmost to resolve it forthwith.
After the CHAN championships in Rwanda, the Technical
Committee requested for the usual technical report of the Championship but
Coach Oliseh wrote a terse email back to the secretary of that committee
stating that he did not report to them.
Even though by the terms of his contract he was obliged to
return to Nigeria at least 2 weeks to any Super Eagles match and is obliged to
watch our domestic league matches from time to time, one can count how many
local league matches he has watched and one can point out that he did not
return to Nigeria before he went to the CHAN championship on the grounds that
he was ill. Yet, he went to South Africa and Rwanda but did not return with the
team to Nigeria
The NFF has accommodated these only in support of the
ultimate success of the coach and the team. On resumption, Coach Oliseh
wanted to sack the entire backroom staff of the Super Eagles including the
media officer saying that he could not work with them. A potentially messy
situation was aborted by the firm position of the General Secretary and the
President on the matter. The coach virtually tore the team apart with his
impulsive style of man management, for example if not for the way the NFF
President and Vice Presidents handled the matter, his disagreement with
erstwhile captain Vincent Enyeama would have seen all the senior players quit
the Super Eagles.
Contrary to the terms of his contract, Coach Oliseh went on
air several times to talk about the NFF’s finances and in a derogatory manner.
He went on air to insult Nigerians in what is now known as his ‘YouTube rant’
wherein he made serious allegations against the Nigeria media, which he has
failed to substantiate. In it, he also noted that he didn't want the job of the
Super Eagles Chief Coach but was prevailed upon to accept it.
From the foregoing, it is clear that without claiming to be
perfect and working under considerable financial difficulties, not only did the
NFF support Mr. Sunday Oliseh in his capacity as Chief Coach of Super
Eagles, it actually showed lots of restraint in the face of aggravated
impulsive behaviour by the coach bordering in some cases on insubordination.
In closing this Statement there are a few things we must
point out:
We find it strange though that, after complaints of non
-payment, Mr.Oliseh waited to receive monies owed him before resigning. Two
days before his resignation, he had passionately appealed that we unite as one
force to fight the battle on the football field with the Egyptian national
team. We had no idea he was selling a dummy.
For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Sunday Oliseh
RESIGNED and was not SACKED. We bear no grudges against the coach and wish him
well in his future endeavours.
We have heard strange talk of “instability in NFF.” How can
there be instability in NFF simply because an employee chose to resign? The
Executive Board of the NFF has resolved to accept his resignation and has
responsibly gone ahead to accept the recommendation of the Technical Committee
in replacing him temporarily with competent coaches.
We have now moved swiftly beyond the issue of the
resignation of Coach Oliseh and like responsible business -minded
administrators we are now thinking about the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers,
with the immediate business being the hosting of the Egyptian national team in
Kaduna and playing them in Egypt towards the end of next month.
We thank the teeming patriotic supporters of the Super
Eagles, seek your forgiveness if we have done any wrong, ask for your
understanding of the very difficult financial situation under which we are
working and above all request your continued support and prayers.
0 Comments