13th August, 2014
No contract agreement has been reached yet between Super Eagles’ Head Coach Stephen Keshi and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), an aide of the coach, Emmanuel Ado, said on Wednesday.
Ado said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja said that there was only a draft contract from the NFF and that both parties would start negotiations today.
NAN reports that the NFF board had on Tuesday said it had finalised the fresh contract with Keshi for him to continue as Eagles’ Head Coach.
The board in its meeting’s communiqué had said the “contract had been forwarded to Keshi” and “the board expects the new contract to be signed by the NFF and Keshi in a matter of days”.
Keshi’s two-and-a-half-year contract expired after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the senior national team has been with no handler since then.
“On behalf of Keshi, I want to categorically state that no agreement has been reached between my client and the NFF. Nothing has been agreed.
“Statements credited to Inyama that arrangements have been finalised for him to sign a new contract are misleading.
“We have the draft contract from the federation and we expect to enter into negotiations today August 13.
“I want to state that contracts are not a ‘take it or leave it’ thing. It is not a master-servant relationship,” Ado said.
He however added that Keshi appreciated the confidence NFF reposed in him, but that he would not be intimidated or blackmailed into the contract as proposed by the association.
“While Keshi appreciates the confidence reposed in him by the NFF to continue as Super Eagles’ coach, he will not be intimidated or blackmailed into accepting the contract as proposed by the association,” Ado said.
Ado said the NFA had always been aware of the 6 September qualifying match involving the Super Eagles and it should not use it as an excuse.
“This is no excuse to rush our client into signing a contract which he has objections to about certain parts. Statements portraying or capable of portraying our client as unreasonable must be avoided.
“We hope that both sides will be able to reach common grounds on the issues which Keshi has reservations about,” he said.
NAN reports that the Super Eagles are billed to host Rwanda in an African Nations Cup (AFCON) qualifier at the U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar on 6 September.
The match is the opening game in the Eagles group which also has South Africa and Sudan.