Izuchukwu OkosiO
By Izuchukwu Okosi
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF has debunked media reports on Thursday that it has sacked head coach Gernot Rohr two months before the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Cameroon in January 2022.
The Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw by Cape Verde in their last group fixture of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers which saw the three time African champions reach the playoff stages of the qualification stages.
The dissatisfaction caused by the lackluster performance of the Nigerian team has led to call for the sacking of the Franco-German coach Rohr.
The NFF however in a release quoted the president of the Federation Amaju Melvin Pinnick as that “no such decision has been taken.”
“The Board of the NFF is studying the report of the Technical Committee, which it submitted after the match against Cape Verde in Lagos on Tuesday. There are a number of possibilities but we have not taken a decision to sack Gernot Rohr. I want to assure that whatever decision is eventually taken will be one that will please the generality of Nigerians.
“Mr Rohr has a contract with the NFF and there is a procedure for disengagement. If we get to that bridge, both parties will look at the contract and see what has to be done both ways. The Super Eagles’ squad is a national asset and we are just fortunate to be in that space to take decisions. Any decision we take must be what will be acceptable to Nigerians from far and near.”
The onetime Bayern Munich defender has overseen 54 international matches in charge of the Nigerian national team and won 28 of them.
The Eagles barring any fall in the monthly FIFA rankings will be seeded for the playoff stages when the draws are held on 18 December 2021.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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