President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has explained why the nation’s football governing body sacked Gernot Rohr as Super Eagles coach.
In an interview with Channels Television on Monday, he said the NFF took the decision as a proactive step to avert a disaster.
“He (Rohr) happens to be the longest-serving manager of the Super Eagles. We gave him all the support,” said Pinnick who was a guest on Sunrise Daily. “But we didn’t want to wait for a disaster to happen before parting ways. The last two games were very tough games for us.
“It wasn’t an individual decision; it was a collective decision by the entire executive committee. We were winning our games … there are a lot of things we took into cognisance. When you part ways, you don’t want to start ascribing blames; you just let it go and face the future with renewed hope and renewed zeal.”
A file photo of Mr Amaju Pinnick. Photo: Instagram@amajumelvinpinnick.
The NFF president disclosed that the body considered some reports of its committees before sacking the German who managed the Nigerian side for five years.
He stated that Nigeria almost lost the ticket for the forthcoming World Cup, added that a lot of factors were considered before the decision was taken.
Pinnick also confirmed that the NFF was owing Rohr for some months, saying the lack of discipline among the players was one of the major setbacks in the team.
Former Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr gestures on the touchline during a friendly match between England and Nigeria at Wembley stadium in London on June 2, 2018. Ben STANSALL / AFP
“We did everything that we could, but one major factor was that discipline in the team is lost practically. In the dressing room, discipline in the team was at its lowest edge and once you remove discipline, that foundation in the team has cracked,” he said.
“Players now talk back at you, players believe that they are indispensable. A lot of factors that will now militate against the team. We are only owing about two matches of all the matches they played in both AFCON qualifiers and World Cup qualifiers.
“For Gernot Rohr, I know we paid him for about five months. We were owing him for a couple of months, then we cleared about five months.”
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