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Keshi, Enyeama crisis are distractions, Ikpeba says
In from Nifemi Daniel….
Former Super Eagles striker, Victor Ikpeba, has charged the Nigeria Football Federation to focus on how to qualify the team for the 2017 African Nations Cup rather than channeling all its energy on trivial issues like the crisis with Coach Stephen Keshi and Captain Vincent Enyeama.
Keshi met with the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) disciplinary committee on Tuesday to answer questions on why his name appeared on a list of candidates to manage Ivory Coast.
Enyeama, who plays for French club Lille and is the Super Eagles most capped player with 101, failed to reply NFF seeking an explanation for his comments.
The 32-year-old could face a lengthy ban for his comments which the NFF feels broke its recent code of conduct signed by the players as well as his failure to attend Tuesday’s hearing.
Ikpeba who described the crisis as a big distraction, advised the NFF to tread cautiously and not create an unnecessary tension in the football family.
“The Keshi and Enyeama crisis is a big distraction to the relative peace we have enjoyed in Nigeria football in recent times.
“Enyeama could have made his reservations on Kaduna known to the NFF and not in the media and since he later apologised, the NFF should not make it a big issue because they are just heating the polity,” the 1997 African Footballer of the Year said.
The former Monaco star added that Keshi has no case to answer but rather urged the football body to support the coach’s programme in achieving his dream.
“Keshi has right to be linked with a job in Ivory Coast. It’s no big deal. The NFF should rather support him to help qualify the team for 2017 AFCON by focusing on how to beat Tanzania in Dar es Salaam instead of the noise about Ivory Coast job.
“Alan Pardew was with Newcastle when he discussed and moved to Crystal Palace, so what is the big deal? We players and coaches can be linked to any club or deal at any time. Will our employers set panel anytime we are linked to any club or job? It’s not a big deal. The NFF leadership should have more serious issues to focus on because Nigerians will not accept any excuse for failure,” he warned.
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