Pissed off! Siasia dumps Nigeria, wants Dalung, NFF probed

Coach Samson Siasia has called it quits with coaching any national teams saying he is tired of working with the current leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation and Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Siasia who led Nigeria to win bronze in Men’s football at the just concluded Olympics, wants President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the scandal which left the team stranded in Atlanta as well as the funds made available to salvage the situation.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Siasia said he is not ready to sacrifice for a nation that does not appreciate his efforts.

“I am done with Nigeria for now. You can’t keep going to a place where they don’t appreciate you. It’s not worth it. Sometimes it is not about the money but the approach. They seem not to appreciate the sacrifices. I know how much I have sacrificed since the team began camping two years ago. How can you keep going to people who don’t appreciate you? It does not make sense, so I am done for now.

“I have to go somewhere else where they will appreciate what I have done and what I can do and pay me the respect that I deserve,” he said.

The former Super Eagles coach who almost resigned during the Olympics faults the current leadership of the Football Federation to the Sports Ministry saying their exit is the only solution for him to reconsider his stance.

“Nothing has changed in the last two years. It has been from bad to worse, so we must sit down and do something about the structure of Nigerian football and by extension sports in general. It doesn’t worth it to work with the people running sports now in Nigeria. From the Football Federation to the Sports Ministry, they don’t have it and will not give what they don’t have. It feels bad.

“If the right people come on board tomorrow then I may reconsider my position because I am also a Nigerian but truly, I will no longer work with these people,” he opined.

Speaking further, the Bayelsa born coach urged the President, Buhari to probe the Atlanta trip scandal especially the money sent for the trip to Brazil.

“Delta Airline said the cost of flying us to Brazil was about $250,000 dollars but that they were not charging us. They said the money could be paid to any charity organization of mine or Mikel but we have not seen anything and that appears like another fraud.

“We are still waiting to see where the money that was meant for us to fly to Brazil has gone to. Nobody has said anything,” he revealed.

Siasia added that, “The federal government sent the money to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and the NOC said they sent the money to the airline in Florida which up till now they have not received anything, even the airline is planning to sue them for breach of contract because they were supposed to pay some money to them even if they were to cancel the arrangement. That is even another issue. We don’t even know how they are going to settle that.”

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