By Obaloluwa Joshua, LAGOS
Super Eagles head coach Éric Chelle has defended his decision to seek for a pay rise of $130,000 from the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Prompt News reports.
The 48-year-old currently earns $50,000 on a monthly basis.
Chelle’s request for a pay rise has generated controversy in Nigeria, but the Malian has offered a defence.
“At the end of the match against Egypt, before an interview with Canal+, I don’t remember, at the end of the match, I went for an interview, and then there is the Ministry of Sports of Nigeria, plus the Director of Customs, who came to congratulate me. And then, they tell me, they tell me, Eric, after the match, you are in Nigeria, we have to discuss your contract,” Chelle said in Histores de Foot Podcast.
“So, I didn’t say that in the interview, but in the interview, I said, yes, they tell me to quickly go back to Nigeria. So, I come back, and then there is a discussion. To get to the numbers, when you talk to me about 130,000, it’s not euros, it’s dollars. 130,000 dollars.
“And then, what people don’t know, is that in Africa, I, in the national team where I was, I have to pay my staff. My technical staff. So, in the 130,000 dollars offered, potentially, if, of course, those numbers are confirmed, you have to pay your staff with all that behind? Yes, we are five.
“So, I’m talking to you about my assistant, my first assistant, I’m talking to you about my physical trainer, my goalkeeper coach, and my personal assistant. Well, personal assistant, it means everything and nothing. But in fact, it’s someone who… because when you’re in a… You know, players today, they create a structure around them, where they have their personal physical coach, their personal coach, and sometimes they have a mental coach.
“So, me, to manage the pressure, because there are times when the pressure is strong, when there is a coach of a nation of 250 million inhabitants, I mean, twice as much as France, maybe even more, quadruple, because France is 65 million. So, 250 million, there is pressure. There is pressure, and sometimes I can’t manage the pressure alone.
“So, I put a structure in place around me that will allow me to manage this pressure. So, all these people, well, you have to pay them. You have to pay them
“And above all, the most important point, well, it’s not my job, I’m a coach, but when you negotiate, when you negotiate a contract, do you go as high as possible or as low as possible? So, today, it’s a negotiation. We’re getting there. We’re getting there.
“When I tell you, it’s basic demands, but when I ask for plane tickets for my family, all the selectors ask for plane tickets, because I want to live in Nigeria, so I need my family to come. But if you have a family of two children, three children, four children, well, it costs money. So I asked for a ticket, like all negotiations, like all selectors do.
“So, you see, there are a lot of things in these demands, but in fact, it’s neither more nor less demands to be in good conditions to do my job. But you confirm these documents anyway, these are verified documents, that’s what’s part of the negotiation. That’s what’s part of a negotiation, absolutely.
“Well, I… There’s a letter that was sent to the Federation, by the way, the person who was mandated to negotiate with Nigeria since I arrived, since the Africa Cup, since the end of the Africa Cup, is still in Nigeria.
“So, today, once again, as I told you, I am a Nigerian selector. So, I don’t know, maybe there’s a campaign of denigration, maybe the Nigerians don’t dare to tell me that they don’t want me to be a selector anymore, or not, well, I don’t know.”
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