Soccer enthusiast Iyke
Igbokwe has alleged that Stephen Keshi was sabotaged by his employers not to
qualify for next year’s African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea.
Nigeria, the defending
champions sensationally failed to qualify for the tournament after playing a
2-2 draw with South Africa in Uyo, Wednesday, africanFootball.com reports.
Igbokwe, who contested
the recent Nigeria Football Federation executive committee polls and has since
appealed against the conduct of the elections, said it was planned from the
onset for Keshi to fail.
“The NFF officials
saddled to oversee the game are to blame for this failure because we all know
there is no love lost between Keshi and the board of the NFF,” he told
africanFootball.com.
“The NFF board sacked
Keshi, but the Presidency in its wisdom reinstated the coach because he started
the qualifiers and with two matches to go, he should finish it.
“His replacement would
have had a ready-made excuse for failure to qualify.
“Also, the team’s morale
was low. Their daily allowances in Congo were not paid, but instead the NFF
took 100 journeymen on a chartered plane to Congo for sightseeing paid for by
tax payers.
“No NFF board member was
there to visit the team before the match this has never been done in the
history
“The animosity between
employer and employee played out in full glare in Uyo.
“This is certainly not a
proper way to run football in Nigeria.”
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Once Fun, Now A Burden - Keshi
Lifted By Coaching Crew After AFCON Success
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Meanwhile outspoken
former head of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Anthony Kojo-Williams has
blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the failure of the Super Eagles to
qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea
Speaking yesterday to
Saturday Vanguard Sports, Kojo-Williams said that it was wrong for
President Jonathan to overturn the decision of the NFF to relieve Keshi of his
duties after last month’s AFCON qualifying match against Sudan in Abuja,
arguing that the Presidential directive created the mess Eagles have found
themselves in now.
“The one person who
created this mess is the President. It was wrong of him recall Keshi when he
was told to go by the NFF. We do not know if Nigeria would have qualified under
the consortium of coaches led by Shaibu Amodu but that infamous decision to
recall Keshi was responsible for our failure as the latter became bigger than
the NFF as he was no longer answerable to them again”, said a livid Kojo-Williams.
Indeed, Keshi, in the
days leading to the final two AFCON 2015 qualifying matches against Congo and
South Africa, said his future with the team was not tied to the Eagles
performance, a subtle way of saying that no matter the results that he was
going to remain in charge..
It is this attitude of
the former Togo and Mali manager that Kojo-Williams finds most resentful,
insisting that it was time for some total cleansing of the football house.
He pointedly attacked the
NFF board, led by Amaju Pinnick as a lame duck for accepting full
responsibility for Keshi’s failure to safely steer the Eagles ship to next
year’s AFCON.
“The NFF as presently led
by Amaju Pinnick has been caged. Those guys do not have the guts to stand on
their decision. It is most shameful and disgusting that they have accepted
responsibility for Keshi’s failure to qualify for the Nations Cup.
“When Siasis failed to
qualify the Eagles for the Nations Cup in 2012, he was sacked. So why are they
afraid to sack Keshi after he failed to qualify us for Equatorial Guinea 2015?
I am totally shocked with what is going on. I am tired of this country.
“I expected Pinnick and his
board to have resigned when the President overturned their decision to sack
Keshi because they are the ones running our football, not our President, who
has a lot on his hands to deal with. They should have stuck to their ground and
told the President why they sacked Keshi but all of them, simply kept quiet and
look at the mess that came out of that decision”, Kojo-Williams added. 
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