The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung may not be entirely against the bid by the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to hire a foreign coach to tinker the Super Eagles in the nearest future.
However, he has asked the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board to convince him on the viability or otherwise of the idea.
Specifically, Dalung, who spoke with newsmen after a meeting with the NFF leadership and the technical committee in Abuja on Tuesday, said they must submit a roadmap for the payment of the coach’s salary.
He therefore, directed the NFF to first look at the technical report of what actually led to the ouster of Nigeria from the 2017 African Cup of Nations following defeat by the Pharaohs of Egypt.
The board was also directed to submit the technical report to the Minister within four weeks.
Dalung told newsmen, “The issue of foreign coach was debated extensively but it was still referred to the technical committee alongside the NFF to show cause why we have to hire a foreign coach, if it is viable or not and where we will get the funds to pay him.
“The technical team of the NFF must be prepared to discharge its responsibilities. They must go back and maintain a strong cohesion in fashioning the way forward. Internal wrangling and lack of cohesion were some of the reasons why we failed to qualify.”
