*NFF: He was only recommended, contract terms not concluded
Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja and Femi Solaja
The deal between the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Paul Le Guen started on a curious note after the Frenchman scorned report that he had been appointed as Super Eagles Technical Adviser.
Le Guen ‘s refutal was revealed by a top French journalist, Herve Penot, via the twitter handle (@hpenot_lequipe).
The tweet said that Le Guen, who had once coached Cameroun, was not coming to Nigeria, because the NFF was yet to meet the terms and conditions for the said job.
The Nigerian federation is enthusiastic to employ Le Guen, to drive the Eagles’ quest to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The NFF Technical Committee that met in Abuja had on Monday announced that Le Guen had been offered appointment as the new national coach.
But Penot had tweeted in French that Le Guen would not be traveling to Nigeria as his conditions had not been met.
Paul le Guen n’ira pas au Nigeria. Les conditions pas réunies pour être sélectionneur. Rien à voir aujourd’hui avec la sélection
— Herve Penot (@hpenot_lequipe) July 18, 2016, said Penot’s tweets.
The tweet when translated reads:.
“Paul le Guen will not go to Nigeria. Conditions not met to be coach . Nothing to do with the selection”.
But strangely, NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire, last night said the technical committee, only ‘recommended’ Le Guen as technical adviser, while the final decision on who to employ rested with the Executive Committee of NFF.
The Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, Hon. Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande similarly dismissed reports in local and international media of the Frenchman’s rejection of the position as simply preposterous.
“The press statement was clear, to the effect that all appointments made at the Technical and Development Committee meeting were mere recommendations, which had to be deliberated upon and agreed to by the Board. No sub-committee in the NFF, except the judicial bodies, takes decisions. They only make recommendations.
“In truth, the Technical and Development Committee perused the profiles of all the coaches who submitted applications and find Mr. Paul Le Guen suitable for the post. But during final negotiations, he objected to being given a target and also did not wish to live in Nigeria, which was a sore point with the board.”
Yahaya-Kwande added: “The job of Head Coach of Nigeria is a very big one and there is no way anyone will get such a job without being handed a target. There is absolutely no issue with Le Guen saying he is not coming; several highly-qualified persons would be happy to be named Manager of the senior national team of Nigeria. We have a plan to take care of that eventuality.”
But THISDAY gathered last night that one of the grey areas between NFF and Le Guen is on the status of the Nigerian back-up staff.
It was learnt that NFF is imposing the local technical staff led by Salisu Yusuf on Le Guen, who insisted on bringing his own team to assist him in Nigeria.
However, this development makes the Frenchman the second foreign coach to leave the Super Eagles post moments after being announced for the job.
Former Brazilian World Cup winner in 1970, Carlos Alberto Torres, did same to the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA) in 1996 before the race for the World Cup qualifying matches to the1998 Mundial in France.
