Weeks of negotiations between the two parties failed to yield positive results.
Portuguese manager Jose Paseiro has revealed there was no concrete agreement between him and the Nigeria Football Federation before he was announced as the substantive coach of the Super Eagles.
Though Paseiro did not deny having negotiations with the NFF with the view of taking over the Super Eagles, the former FC Porto manager said no agreement was reached when he was announced as the new coach to take over the Nigeria national team after the 2021 Afcon tournament in Cameroon
In a post on his Instagram page, Peseiro revealed that talks to handle the three-time African champions collapsed due to financial queries and clauses in the proposed contract.
“After several weeks of negotiations, during which there was news from the Nigerian Football Federation, that I would be the coach of their team, from the end of Afcon 2021, a fact that I never confirmed, and these did not materialize due to disagreement regarding contrarian clauses and financial matters,” the 61-year-old wrote on his page.
The ‘appointment’ of Paseiro by the NFF was contained in a communique issued after the Federation’s Executive meeting held on December 29, 2021.
The communique read in part: “After careful consideration of a memo presented by Chairman of the Technical and Development Sub-Committee, the Executive Committee endorsed a proposal for the appointment of Mr Jose Peseiro as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles, following the end to the relationship with Mr Gernot Rohr.
“However, the Committee resolved that Mr Augustine Eguavoen named the interim Head Coach, will lead the Super Eagles to the AFCON 2021 in Cameroon with Mr Peseiro only playing the role of Observer. It was unanimously agreed that the AFCON is a good avenue for Mr Peseiro to launch a working relationship with Mr Eguavoen, who will revert to his role as Technical Director (hence Mr Peseiro’s immediate boss) after the AFCON.” the communique added.
Just like Peseiro, the NFF have also moved on with the announcement of a reconstituted technical crew for the Super Eagles.
The NFF in a statement issued during the week named Augustine Eguavoen, Emmanuel Amuneke, Salisu Yussuf, Joseph Yobo and Alloy Agu as the personnel that would lead the Eagles going forward; especially for the World Cup playoff against Ghana.
On Peseiro, the NFF scribe Mohammed Sanusi said: “We acknowledge and appreciate the interest that Mr Jose Peseiro has shown in Nigeria Football during our very cordial discussions and have absolutely no doubt about his capacity,”
“However, in view of the positive performance of the Super Eagles at the just-concluded Africa Cup of Nations which has given hope to Nigerians and boosted our confidence in the present coaching crew to qualify us for the World Cup in Qatar, we have decided to accept the recommendation of the Technical and Development Committee to retain the Eguavoen-led coaching crew and strengthen it with the addition of Emmanuel Amuneke.”
Had he been hired, Paseiro would have been the first Portuguese manager ever to handle the Super Eagles.
source:(premiumtimesng.com)