Nigeria will resist the temptation to sack under-fire coach Gernot Rohr despite a worrying winless run, national team chiefs insisted Friday.
Sports minister Sunday Dare has questioned the competence of the German coach after the Super Eagles failed to win a match this year, drawing three times and losing once.
“Nigerian football deserves better,” Dare said in a recent tweet.
But football authorities are less keen to go for the gun confirming Rohr would continue to lead Nigeria to the Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 as well as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“Rohr has done well as our coach, qualifying us for the World Cup and finishing third at the AFCON. It was the same coach who beat Argentina and drew with Brazil in friendlies,” Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick explained.
“He has our full support.”
“Sacking Rohr is not as easy as Nigerians see it, the football federation would have to pay him off,” he said.
Such a pay-off is reportedly put at around $1.2 million.
Two of the draws were with Sierra Leone, who are ranked 120th in the world by FIFA, and it included a 4-4 draw in Benin City, southern Nigeria, where the home team led 4-0 after half an hour.
After the Sierra Leone matches former international Yakubu Aiyegbeni described Rohr as “Nigeria’s worst ever coach.”
Rohr recently signed a new two-year contract, with a monthly pay of $45,000.
Under him, Nigeria has won 29 matches, drew 14 and lost 10.
