The Nigeria Football Federation has promoted Salisu Yusuf as Chief Coach after sacking Gernot Rorh as the Technical Adviser of Super Eagles.

This is coming barely seven weeks after NFF returned Salisu Yusuf, who was previously banned for collecting bribe, as an Assistant Coach of the Super Eagles.

Salisu was in August 2018 caught on camera accepting cash from men who posed as football agents to select two players for his Morocco 2018 African Nations Championship squad.

He was subsequently banned for one year and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 by the federation after the NFF Ethics and Fair Play Committee ruled that the coach received $1,000 from the men.

The NFF earlier reinstated the coach in 2019 without reappointing him immediately.

It’s however unclear why NFF announced Yusuf as Assistant Coach when he was returned seven months ago.

A statement announcing the termination of Rohr’s contract on Sunday identified Salisu as a Chief Coach, a post he previously held before being banned.

The statement read, “The Nigeria Football Federation has appointed Mr. Augustine Eguavoen, currently its Technical Director, as the Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles on an interim basis.

“This is with immediate effect, and follows the termination of the relationship with Franco-German Gernot Rohr, who has been in charge of the three-time African champions for the past 64 months and is Nigeria’s longest-serving manager.

“Following a virtual meeting of the NFF Executive Committee on Sunday, it was decided that Eguavoen will work with Salisu Yusuf (Chief Coach); Paul Aigbogun (Assistant Coach); Joseph Yobo (Assistant Coach); Dr Terry Eguaoje (Assistant Coach), and Aloysius Agu (Goalkeeper Trainer).

 “Former Nigeria captains Augustine ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, and Garba Lawal have been appointed to provide technical and ambassadorial support for the crew.”

The 68-year-old German national Rohr, who had been Super Eagles coach since August 2016, had a contract with Nigeria until December 2022.

Rohr led Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup and guided the team to third at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Rohr has also qualified the Eagles for next year’s Africa Cup in Cameroon, but he recently came under fire for poor displays against lowly-rated opponents.

Eguavoen was coach when Nigeria finished third at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in 2006.

He was team captain when the Super Eagles lifted the Africa Cup for the first time on away ground, in Tunisia 27 years ago.

He will take charge of preparations for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon between January 9 and February 6, pending the appointment of a permanent coach.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: