'Keshi Wasn't On Same Page With NFF'

Former Super Eagles head coach Stephen Keshi was “not on the same page” with his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) vice president, Seyi Akinwumi, has revealed.

Akinwumi said that Keshi's position became untenable because it looked unlikely he would achieve set objectives.

“We (NFF) are not very eager to open old wounds because this is a new era (where we are about to appoint a) new coach (for the national team).

“We looked at the whole scenario surrounding his appointment with us and we thought that we were not going in the same direction in terms of what we hoped in the short and long term.

“As a result, we took the option open to us to terminate his contract and that is the end of it,” Akinwumi said on popular Nigerian magazine programme, Naija Made, on SuperSport TV.

Keshi was fired on July 4 with an official statement of the NFF noting that the former Nigeria captain flouted several clauses in his contract.

“To this end and pursuant to the provisions of Clause 4.3 of the Employment Contract between Mr. Stephen Keshi and the NFF (the contract) and the various clauses therein, the Nigeria Football Federation has decided to exercise its option to summarily terminate the employment contract of Mr. Stephen Keshi with the Federation with immediate effect,” part of the statement read.

He was first appointed as Nigeria head coach in 2011 and led the country to Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) glory in 2013 in South Africa.

Keshi then guided the Super Eagles to a place in the round of 16 at the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

Things then went downhill for the trainer as he failed to guide the Super Eagles to the finals of the 2015 Afcon in Equatorial Guinea.

His relationship with the NFF was never smooth-sailing as he was sacked and recalled by the present board led by Amaju Pinnick on October 16, 2014.

It seemed only a matter of time before he fell on his sword and the inevitable eventually played out last Sunday.

The 53-year-old had previously managed the national teams of Mali and Togo.

His former national teammate, Sunday Oliseh, is now set to be named Nigeria head coach next week.

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