The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Friday reappointed Samson Siasia the Head Coach of Super Eagles following the earlier resignation of Sunday Oliseh as the team’s handler.
Chris Green, Chairman of the Federation’s Technical and Development Committee, told newsmen after the committee’s meeting in Abuja that the appointment would however be on an interim basis.
He said Siasia would be joined by the newly-appointed Flying Eagles coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, in prosecuting the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against the Pharaohs of Egypt.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Eagles are billed to face the Egyptians on March 25 in Kaduna.
“The team’s Assistant Coach, Salisu Yusuf, and Alloy Agu, the Goalkeepers Trainer, who worked with Oliseh will retain their jobs and serve as the bridge between the new coaches and the players,” Green said.
He said the action followed the confirmation of Oliseh’s resignation by the NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi.
“I can confirm now that the (NFF) General Secretary has told us that Oliseh has resigned his appointment as Head Coach of the Super Eagles.
“We are leaving no stone unturned, because we have two very important matches, and that is the double-header against the Pharaohs of Egypt on March 25 in Kaduna and the return leg in Cairo some days later.
“So, we have decided, as a matter of urgency, to get a consortium of coaches to oversee these two games in the meantime and see how far we can go in respect of facing the matches.
“But what can we do? Because, the news came as a shock to us. We are actually not happy about what happened, because we were unguarded when it happened.
“All the same, we need to do what we need to do to get out of a very bad situation.
“So, the consortium of coaches will be led by Samson Siasia, Salisu Yusuf and Emmanuel Amuneke, with Aloy Agu as goalkeeper trainer,” Green said.
Green, who is also an NFF Executive Committee member, said the current Super Eagles technical crew would work directly under Shuaibu Amodu, the National Technical Director.
The NFF technical committee chairman also confirmed the payment of N20 million to Oliseh which covered the backlog of his salaries and housing allowance for one year.
“I can confirm this to you, because I confirmed from the General Secretary that N20 million has been paid to Oliseh, covering the backlog of his salaries and housing allowance for one year.
“But we don’t want to get distracted now. Whatever is associated with the refund of part of the rent will be tackled by the appropriate authorities.
“Suffice to say that we have to move ahead and plan for the two games coming up in less than a month’s time,” he said.
NAN reports that Oliseh resigned in the early hours of Friday, barely seven months into his contract.
Oliseh who had earlier denied not receiving N20 million from the NFF cited lack of support and contractual breach by the football house as reasons for his action.
Siasia had earlier served as Super Eagles’ Head Coach, between December 2010 and October 2011.
His contract was however terminated following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
He has since then gone on to return to national reckoning by leading the national under-23 male team, the Dream Team VI, to qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Amuneke also led the Nigerian under-17 male side to the country’s fifth FIFA U-17 World Cup title in Chile last year.
He was consequently hailed for his excellent comportment and maturity, as well as the tremendous skills of his players, leading to being named Flying Eagles Head Coach last week.(NAN)