How Keshi got into trouble with NFF

In from Nifemi Daniel…

He is famously known as the ‘Big Boss’ but Stephen Keshi’s turbulent spell in charge of Nigeria’s Super Eagles came to an end after he was sacked by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) on Saturday amid reports Keshi applied for the vacant Ivory Coast coaching job.

A meeting of the NFF Executive Committee, which ended around 10 p.m. on Saturday night, resolved to terminate Keshi’s contract after the Exco concluded that an application was sent on his behalf to the Ivory Coast football federation seeking to replace Herve Renard.

Keshi, 53, took over the national side in 2011 and led them to a long-awaited third African title two years later. The charismatic coach then quit the day after their 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso in the final, only to change his mind a day later.

The same thing happened after the World Cup last year when he quit and was then reinstated before threatening to leave again last October after a poor run of results as the team failed to qualify for this year’s African Cup of Nations.

Keshi continued in his role on a match-by-match basis for the 2015 AFCON qualifying campaign, though he was replaced by Shaibu Amodu in October – only to be reinstated two weeks later.

The 53-year-old was unable to lead Nigeria to the finals in Equatorial Guinea, however, with Daniel Amokachi taking over on an interim basis after that failure, before Keshi again returned to the hot seat in April.

Keshi’s many sins

The NFF disciplinary report which nailed the former Super Eagles captain, contained Keshi’s CV and cover letter, both of which were obtained from the Ivorian FA.

The application had been submitted on behalf of the sacked Nigeria coach by France-based football agent Hermann Brice De Souza. He is originally from Benin Republic and works out of France as well as Togo, where Keshi previously coached the national team.

According to the report, the Auxerre-based agent submitted the application on June 11. However, on June 20, the day after the story made headline news, De Souza wrote to the Ivorien FA seeking to withdraw Keshi’s name from the running.

Keshi’s statement at his disciplinary hearing was that “Neither he, his agent nor anybody acting on his behalf” applied for the job, but it remains unclear whether De Souza acted independently, or at Keshi’s behest. One committee member, however, argued that De Souza could hardly have provided such a detailed CV without some previous or current relationship with the principal.

“The agent that sent Keshi’s CV informed him because of the percentage the agent is entitled to receive when the job becomes a success and Keshi gave his consent,” he revealed.

Keshi was also hauled up on charges of not only inviting a non-league player — Okechukwu Gabriel — to the national team last month, but of handing him the revered No. 10 jersey.

In the indictment, the report quoted Clause 5.4 of Keshi’s contract which states “The Head Coach shall select the best crop of players for the Super Eagles who are ready to excel in friendly and competitive games in consultation with the Technical Committee and the Technical Study Group of the NFF.”

In not only selecting a non-league player, but failing to do so in consultation with the relevant committees, Keshi was adjudged to be in breach of his contract. Both actions led to the committee recommending the immediate voiding of his contract.

Chukwu, Onigbinde back sacking

For Christian Chukwu, who once coached the Super Eagles, “The NFF had the right to sack the coach if they thought he was not the right man for the job. Honestly I think the NFF is right on this”.

He added that, “From day one, it was obvious the federation didn’t really want to work with Keshi and one could read it easily from their body language.

“Coaching job is all about hiring and firing and I hope Keshi will take it in good faith.”

Respected FIFA and CAF Technical Instructor, Adegboye Onigbinde, however praised the NFF for not creating a vacuum in the Super Eagles.

“I saw it coming but it’s a good step that the NFF immediately directed Shaibu Amodu to take charge of the team in the interim. This was supposed to be a new dawn for the team and I feel they shouldn’t have made this whole thing a public affair.

“I’m not privy to the terms of his contract with the NFF so don’t know who is to blame for the way things happened.

“The question is: according to the terms of his contract, is Keshi barred from looking for another job? I once said that a contract is supposed to be negotiated so that it doesn’t become a slave contract.

“There must be a process in a contract called an Ouster Article/Clause that will state how a contract will be determined, otherwise if the NFF have not kept to the terms of that clause, Keshi can even take them to court. No matter how bad a person may seem to be, he will surely have sympathisers. I believe the NFF must have looked into the contract thoroughly.

Read also: Eagles coach, Keshi to face probe

“On the other hand, if a section of the contract stops Keshi from applying for a coaching job and he is culpable of flouting it, then the NFF can as well take legal action against him, so it’s neither here or there but it is very important that a vacuum is not created and I’m happy that the NFF have appointed Shuaibu Amodu on interim basis.

“When the coaching crew of the Eagles was disbanded after the 2002 Nations Cup, I was Head of the Technical Department of the NFA and I was asked to take charge of the team, that’s how I took the team to the World Cup in Korea/Japan. I didn’t even take a kobo for that,” he said.

Too many changes

A former member of the Board of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dickson Adejube, faulted the rate at which the federation had been removing the national team coaches.

Adejube said there would be repercussions over a lack of continuity in the nation’s football management.

The NFF had recently announced the termination of the appointment of Edwin Okon, a former Super Falcons Coach.

“This is badly timed; a time that we are preparing for competitions, coaches are being sacked. This is the time the NFF is supposed to sit down and think of how to move the teams forward.

“You will see the repercussion, and we will have ourselves to blame in the end,” he said.

The retired FIFA badge referee noted that the NFF was not organised, saying, “instead of rallying to be focused; we need to think very well before we do things, and I wish them goodluck.’’

Keshi is the only African coach to qualify two African teams for the World Cup finals — Togo in 2006, as well as Nigeria. He played 64 times for his country and spent the peak years of his playing career in Belgium in the 1980s and 1990s.

Meanwhile, Shaibu Amodu, who was formally appointed the country’s technical director last week, takes over as caretaker coach and will be assisted by Salisu Yusuf until a permanent successor is appointed.

Amodu who has previously managed the national team on four different occasions returns to the helm for a fifth time.

He led Nigeria to a third-place finish in the 2002 Nations Cup and also held the job between 1994 and 1997. Amodu previously helped the country to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

Under his stewardship, Nigeria qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but Amodu was sacked despite the team’s third-place finish at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

It was the second time he had been removed from his post ahead of a World Cup finals tournament – Amodu was also fired ahead of the 2002 edition after Nigeria finished third at the 2002 Nations Cup in Mali.

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