NFF technical department to decide Rohr’s future, says Sanusi

• ‘Why Nigeria lost the CAF Footballer of the Year Award’ 

Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) Secretary-General, Mohammed Sanusi has revealed that the decision on the future of Super Eagles’ Manager, Gernot Rohr would be taken solely by the technical committee of the federation. Reacting to the stories making the rounds that some influential people were working to see the exit of the Franco-German from the national team, Sanusi said no external force could influence the fate of the coach.

“I am not in the position to speak on the hiring and firing of national team coaches. The NFF technical department is in charge and if they find Rohr capable to continue handling the Super Eagles and the coach also agrees on their contract terms and conditions, so be it.

“But in my position as the NFF secretary, I cannot say whether Rohr’s contract will be renewed or not. It is not my job.”Commenting on the CAF Footballer of the Year Awards, which final shortlists were released at the weekend, Sanusi said no Nigerian player made it to the final three in the men’s top award because the Super Eagles did not play in the final game of this year’s African Nations Cup.

CAF on Sunday announced Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, Mo Salah of Egypt and Sadio Mane of Senegal as the three finalists for the CAF Footballer of the Year award, while Odion Ighalo, who was formerly in the running, was left out.Sanusi told The Guardian that Ighalo’s outstanding performance in the Nations Cup qualifying series and the AFCON was enough to make the Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC of China forward a top contender for the award.

He noted that the Super Eagles’ dominance in the continent in recent times has shown that Nigerian players are not pushovers in African football.Sanusi called on football lovers not to write off Nigerian players, saying that they have the wherewithal to win laurels for the country, adding that the federation would do its best to continue encouraging Nigerian footballers home and abroad.

“Ighalo not making the final three-man cut in the African Footballer of the Year award does not mean Nigerian players are not doing fine in soccer. But I think the Super Eagles failure to play in the final of the 2019 AFCON is one of the reasons Ighalo could not be among the three shortlisted players.

“Nigeria have been dominating other African teams in friendlies, Nations Cup qualifiers and the AFCON championship. These performances show that the country is a force to reckon with in football at the senior men’s national team level.“Nigerian players are doing their best to raise the standard of their game in a bid to improve their profile in the continent,” he said.