<<Print>>

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have denied that they planned to hire a foreign coach to boss Stephen Keshi. Nigerian Senate President David Mark said on the team�s arrival after their triumph in South Africa that Keshi told him that he was asked to accept a foreign coach to boss him and he turned that down leading eventually to his short-lived resignation. However, NFF media chief Ademola Olajire said there was no truth in the report they were to hire a foreign technical adviser, maintaining the NFF have been fully behind Keshi. "It is not true that we wanted to employ a foreign coach for the Super Eagles, we have no reason to do that. We gave Keshi all the support he needed to do well,� Olajire said on a television programme in Lagos Monday night. �We never discussed that since Keshi took over the team. What we had planned was to have a technical director which is not for the Super Eagles. I see no reason why we will want Keshi that we employed to fail." Olajire also said the NFF have suspended all requests to host the victorious Eagles till after a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Kenya next month. He said, "We have a crucial World Cup qualifier in March against Kenya, so preparation starts now. We don't want any distraction so we told the states that still want to host Eagles to wait till after that game because they need full concentration ahead of the game."