Sunday Dare, Nigeria’s Sports Minister, said Rohr’s sack was a thorough process, adding that it was done in the interest of the country
By Kehinde Okeowo
The recent sack of the German gaffer of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been praised as a process that was thorough, dynamic, and robust by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare.
The Sports Minister made the revelation during a chat with Nigerian Television. Authority (NTA) recently.
Dare, who described the termination of the appointment of Rohr as an inevitable one, said it was done to ensure the team reaches its full potential and Nigerians have value for their time and money.
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He praised the process that led to the eventual exit of the 63-year-old, saying the decision was taken after careful analysis of the performance of the team, especially the encounter with Cape Verde.
“I think the NFF which is the organization or federation in charge of football development which also include the mandate for taking care of the Super Eagles has met severally with the Executive Board; they have submitted to the ministry a detailed report on Rohr’s performance,” Dare said. “Technical report from the last match we played against Cape Verde and based on consultation and technical input as well as information based on the information that went back and forth between the ministry and the NFF.”
He added: “The decision was reached based on the best interest of the Super Eagles and Nigeria football development and it was taken from the position of responsibility so that we can begin to chart a clear path for the kind of national team that we expect to see.
“ For me, the process was very instructive because we needed to get to know every aspect of Rohr and Super Eagles performance as a team both individually and collectively within the context of our performances for the last few matches.
“I think the process that led to the final decision was a very dynamic and robust process where we were able to separate sentiment from what we needed to get done. No country will want to send away a coach when it is closed to two major tournaments. I think some difficult decisions are better taken promptly than not taken at all.”
Speaking on the interim coach, Austin Eguavoen, the Sports Minister said his ministry give the new coach and his crew the needed support to come out in flying colours at the AFCON and World Cup Play-off
He also assured Nigerians that the new crew have worked with the Super Eagles player for a while and had been part of the system. He, therefore, concluded that the drastic change will not have an adverse effect on the team.
“Eguavoen come with a lot of responsibility and he has also been around the team as well and we believe he will get the needed support. Also the team that has been playing several matches and friendly and our preparation for AFCON is a composition of what they have done in the past.
” Apart from Rohr, we have almost the same team that worked with the team in the past. We believe NFF is on top of the situation and we expect to see Eguavoen roll out his plans for the team. Whatever can be done in the meantime will be done to help the team.” Dare concluded.