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| Stephen Keshi finally sacked by Nigeria as coach of Super Eagles. |
So interestingly enough,the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick has said that Coach Stephen Keshi was sacked to protect him from the wrath of enraged Nigerian fans, who wanted to lynch him during Wednesday’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier with Sudan.Pinnick practically said they saved Keshi's life by
sacking him!
Pinnick said he and other NFF Executive Committee members were worried and shocked by how much resentment the Nigerian fans were showing towards Keshi at the match against Sudan.The fans pelted Keshi with water bottles and stones as they called for Keshi to be sacked at the Abuja National Stadium, venue of the match, which Nigeria won 3-1 to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for next year’s tournament in Morocco.
Chants of “Keshi must go:, “sack Keshi” and “we don’t want Keshi again” rented the air as fans went overdrive in their bid to get their voices heard by the NFF, who swiftly swung into action in the wee hours of yesterday by axing the former Togo and Mali coach.
Pinnick paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Sports and Chairman, National Sports Commission, Dr. Tamuno Danagogo yesterday, Pinnick explained the personal safety of Keshi was considered more important than anything else.
Pinnck, is said to have told the Minister that he was shocked with the hostile reception of the fans towards Keshi, arguing that it would be dangerous for Keshi to remain as coach in the face of such hostility.
He added that it was the first time in recent years that abuses and stones were rained down on a Nigerian coach by fans.
“It was too much to bear. The fans were coming for him and it was going to be a security risk for us as people had ran out of patience and were prepared to break the law to achieve their aim. Keshi’s personal safety was paramount in our decision to relieve him of his duties”, Pinnick said.
I think Pinnick has greatly exaggerated Keshi's plight.I have seen fans react worse than that,and as Nigeria was winning the match ,they forgot all about Keshi.Pinnick and his men wanted Keshi to leave,they should be brave and just come out and say they were not happy with Keshi's performance ,instead of coming with all this bull shit we wanted to save his life!
I mean,Keshi was still in charge and these men were talking about hiring a foreign coach,and this was before the first Sudan match.Nigerian officials are a joke.How can you talk about another coach when one is still in charge?Is that supposed to inspire him?
And what's all this Amodu they have brought back to coach the Super Eagles? When was the last time he took care of a match?Do they realise that time and football moves on at all?The man who led the U17 to the world cup with beautiful football,why couldn't he have been appointed?What is all this fascination with Foreign coaches?Was Keshi a foreign coach when he won us the Nations Cup?They will hire a foreign coach and pay him 3 times what Keshi earnt! And on time too...I'm tired saying Nigeria is messed up,but we really are messed up!