Keshi and Enyeama in the NFF dock

 

Nigerian football has taken a bashing of late both on and off the field. From the Flying Eagles’ premature exit from the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, to the Super Falcons’ first round exit from the Women’s World Cup in Canada.

In fairness, the Falcons were in the toughest group of the tournament. USA, Sweden and Australia are all ranked in FIFA’s top 10, compared to the Falcons at 33rd. Nevertheless the African Champions should and could have done better considering that even Cameroon were able to qualify for the knock out stages. The Falcons weren’t helped in the least by their coach Edwin Okon, who, to put it mildly, was completely out of his depth.

There are storm clouds brewing over the Glass House, the head office of the Nigeria Football Federation, with controversy swirling around both the coach and captain of the Super Eagles. Stephen Keshi and Vincent Enyeama were directed to appear before the NFF disciplinary committee on Tuesday, to answer queries over conduct unbecoming of their positions. A storm that could have a less than salutary effect on the Super Eagles’ chances of qualifying for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The Eagles next game is against Tanzania in the first week of September. At a time when we should all be working to re-establish our domination of Africa, needless distractions could end up hindering our preparations. Qualification for Gabon 2017 is non-negotiable.

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Keshi turned up to answer his query, while Enyeama was a no show.

I have often speculated how the working relationship between Keshi and the NFF would pan out, considering their history of mutual suspicion and antagonism. With the latest developments, it seems the said relationship might get much worse before it gets any better.

Let me lay out the facts of the matter as I know them. Over a week ago and for reasons best known to them, the Ivorian football association released a list of 59 coaches, who they claim submitted applications for the recently vacated post of technical advisor to the Ivorian national team. Former manager Herve Renard having resigned his position to take up the manager’s job at Lille in Ligue One. By some mysterious and so far unexplained circumstance, Keshi’s name appeared on the list of the 59 applicants. How can that be, you may ask? After all, Keshi signed his new two-year deal with the NFF on April 21, while Herve Renard was still coaching Ivory Coast. In fact, Renard didn’t leave his post till May 22. Keshi’s purported application to Ivorian FA was submitted on Thursday June 11, six weeks into his new contract with the NFF. Something definitely doesn’t add up. The million naira question is: If Keshi didn’t submit the application, who did? His agent, Emmanuel Ado, has vociferously (and sometimes quite vituperatively) denied any contact with the Ivorian FA. In two rambling Facebook posts, Ado at first claimed ‘enemies of peace’ were at work. In the second post, he claimed certain members of the NFF executive board were out to get Keshi sacked at all costs. He went as far as accusing some people of wanting the Super Eagles to lose against Chad in order to undermine Keshi’s position. Keshi however stoutly denied the accusations levelled against him. But that still begs the question: How did Keshi’s name get on the 59 man short list? It’s not rocket science and can only be one of two things: either Keshi and or his agent are being economical with the truth, which would be hugely embarrassing for the NFF. Or the Ivorian FA is guilty of tapping up/attempting to poach an under-contract coach. This flouts both CAF and FIFA regulations, which if Ivory Coast is found to be in breach, would lead to serious consequences for them. The NFF disciplinary committee is not letting the matter rest and will visit Ivory Coast for further investigations. It’s a messy situation which we surely haven’t heard the last of.

Enyeama’s disciplinary case is ongoing too. I didn’t read or hear the comments that led to him being queried but I got the general gist of them. I have never heard of a player being issued a query, this must be a first. Usually in disciplinary matters involving a player and constituted authority, I usually support the latter. Enyeama is supposed to have gone off script by complaining about security in Kaduna (and as captain shouldn’t have done, besides security in Kaduna was rock solid, I was there). But I admire and respect Enyeama, apart from being our most capped player, he is also the Eagles most consistent performer. I appeal to the NFF to handle Enyeama’s matter with the requisite maturity and resolve this misunderstanding amicably. The NFF shouldn’t risk cutting off its nose to spite its face.