KESHI’S SACK : AGARRY, BONFRERE DIFFER

Former Chairman of the FCT Football Association, Mr. Ben Agarry has reacted angrily to Saturday’s sacking of former Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, saying it is the height of injustice.

On the other hand, former Super Eagles handler Johannes Bonfrere has applauded the NFF for showing Keshi the exit door and advised the federation to appoint a foreign coach as the next Super Eagles’ coach.
Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, the former NFA board member said for sacking the former Super Eagles captain over a flimsy reason, the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board is toying with the passion of millions of Nigerians.

He said the timing of Keshi’s sack was not only wrong but capable of derailing the senior national team’s 2017 AFCON qualifying campaign.
Agarry maintained that even before now, the NFF wanted to relieve Keshi of his job but could not find a bad name to use in hanging him.
He, therefore, threatened that if anything happens to Super Eagles AFCON qualifiers, he will personally mobilise Nigerian football fans to stone Pinnick and his men out of the glasshouse.
Agarry reiterated that since the present NFF Executive Committee came to office, has not brought Nigerians any cheering news.
“I want to say that the sack of Coach Stephen Keshi is the height of injustice. After all the contributions he has made to Nigerian football, he does not deserve this shabby treatment.
“Moreover, the timing of his sack is wrong and if anything happens to Super Eagles AFCON qualifiers, I will personally mobilize Nigerians to stone Pinnick and his people.
“Ever since, they wanted to sack Keshi but there was nothing they could use against him. Now they have given him a bad name in order to sack him,” he said.
Agarry also said Nigerian football stakeholders should not fold their hands and watch as Nigerian football continues to dwindle.
“I am calling on credible football administrators like Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, Alhaji Sani Lulu Abdullahi and others to do something urgently to stop this dangerous drift,” he insisted.
Reacting to Keshi’s sack last Saturday, Bonfrere who led Nigeria’s U-23 football team to win the 1996 Olympics football event said only a foreign tactician can help the Super Eagles back to the peak again.
“I think the NFF need to hire a foreign coach to take charge of the Super Eagles. The Super Eagles have failed to make much impact since they won the African Cup of Nations in 2013 and it has to do with the inability of the coaches to take the team to new heights.
“Personally, I don’t think Stephen Keshi have what it takes to take the team beyond where they are now.
“So the decision made by the NFF to sack him was the right one. The next task before them now is to carefully look for a capable foreign coach that can help improve the performance of the team,”