I Backed Appointment Of Finidi George As Super Eagles Coach Cos…Pinnick

Why did former president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick support appointment of former Super Eagles coach, Finidi George?

Pinnick, also a council member of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) has revealed the reason, while speaking during an interview with Arise News.

“Why I supported indigenous coaches in the last selection process was because I communed with NFF, and I was made to understand that they didn’t have the funding for a foreign coach”, he began, adding that:

“They actually wanted a foreign coach, but at that point, they didn’t have the funding. So they needed to settle, and the transition at that point was for it to be as seamless as possible. It was for them to have a coach that was in the team of [Jose] Peseiro that went to the finals of AFCON, and that was Finidi George.

“There was nothing to it because if it was any other person that was there in that transitional period, would have said yes. They didn’t have the money.”

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“Everybody knows that I’ve always advocated a foreign coach when I was president of NFF, and I had my reasons.

“Even before I got into NFF, I observed very clearly that Nigerian coaches have knowledge and abilities, but it goes beyond that in managing players. One thing that is elemental when you want to manage a player is respect; do they have respect for the coaches?” he asked.

Without particularizing on Finidi George however, he stated that stated that most indigenous coaches do not command respect compared to their foreign counterparts.

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