Former Super Eagles defender, Efe Sodje, has hit out at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), for agreeing to pay new national team coach, Gernot Rohr, $47,000 a month.
The German has signed a two-year deal with the federation and it is understood his wages will be financed by an unnamed oil and gas company.
Sodje is not happy with the preferential treatment given to foreign managers.
“When Shuaibu Amodu, Stephen Keshi and Sunbday Oliseh were in charge of the team, they weren’t paid such amount. They honour people here (England), but they don’t in Nigeria.Here the FA is concerned about their own people but we keep letting our own people down,” Sodje told PUNCH in a telephone interview.
“We should respect our own people. Nobody knows him (Rohr) but they gave him the crucial job of taking us to the World Cup. Why didn’t they take the same risk on Nigerian coaches? If you put this man down amongst five white men, no Nigerian will know him. But put Salisu (Yusuf) or Samson Siasia among five blacks and Nigerians will know him. So why don’t we go for who we know?”
Sodje also called on the NFF to make Rohr’s contract details public.
“They said he will pay the other people he’s bringing from the $47,000. They should tell us how much he (Rohr) will personally earn from the money. Didn’t Keshi and Oliseh bring their own assistants too? Were they paid the same amount? Let them show us the full details of the contract,” the UEFA B Licence coach continued
“If a private firm is paying the coach, then what is the NFF doing? Who will pay the local people who are part of the backroom staff? It’s a funny development and a shame that we still haven’t changed after so many years. There is Siasia and Emmanuel Amuneke, these are big names. Why can’t we bring them to manage the national team?”
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