Sports
Why We Owe S’ Eagles Players, Coaches- Pinnick
The President of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has hinted that the Federation is doing everything possible to pay Super Eagles and their coaches.
Pinnick explained that the Federation is currently struggling to meet its financial obligations, no thanks to the current pandemic which has affected principal sponsors Aiteo.
Reports claimed, the players are yet to receive bonuses for the just concluded African Cup of Nations qualifiers, while the Gernot Rohr-led technical crew are also owed seven-month salaries.
In an interview with Tidesports source, the head of the Nigerian football body has now reiterated his commitment to clearing the bonuses and allowances of the national team players and coaches.
“We are not proud to say we are owing, but there are some circumstances in few years that made us not to meet our obligations, but thankfully, the players understand that we are always there for them since we came on.
“We gave them all the luxury, especially when they are travelling for games. They travel with chartered flights and I can tell you that any country they go to, they stay in the best hotel.”
“In Austria for example, all our key players are there, the ones who are not there called me, I spoke with Chukwueze two days before his surgery and regretted not being with the team.”
“We didn’t say we aren’t going to pay, but what is happening now is what we never dreamt of, when I became the NFF president, the dream was to make the Federation independent, because the government has a lot of challenges and fair play to government, they have done the right thing, because we need to be safe and secured before we can play football.”
“The salaries of the coaches are supposed to be paid by our major sponsor ( Aiteo), but they have challenges, due to the pandemic and others.”
The FIFA executive member also accused the media of giving the Federation a bad image, which made it more difficult for them to get funds from their sponsors.
“When we came on board, we paid coaches from 2007 till date and another thing is that, they created a problem for us. They created this toxicity and the artificial problems, just to make us look bad.”
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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