Why NFF Can’t Sack Rohr

Fresh facts have emerged on why Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr won’t be sacked by the Nigerian Football Federation, Sports Extra has exclusively gathered.

There have been calls for Rohr to be sacked after he failed to guide Nigeria to the final of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt after his side lost 2-1 to Algeria in the semi-final on Sunday.

Sports Extra reliably gathered that the German tactician, who has one-year left on his current deal has a $1m payment clause inserted in his contract should he be relieved of his post as the head coach of the team before the expiration of his new deal.

The NFF president,Amaju Pinnick, had on Wednesday ruled out wielding the axe on the 66-year-old who according to him met the target set for him by the federation.

“He (Rohr) will remain in the job. I have complete confidence in him,” Pinnick told journalists in Egypt.

“Gernot has taken us to the semi-final, the target we set for him. Right now, we have a third-place match to play for and we intend to have our team leave Egypt with honour.

“There are some people that have been calling on me and the federation to sack Gernot. But I am not going to do that. In fact, Gernot is going on a refresher training period with Bayern Munich after the Nations Cup. We have a long-term plan with him.

“We have had rocky and difficult moments in our relationship, but this is normal in any relationship between two people.

“He is a good coach and we want him to remain with us. That said, we will work together on what needs to be improved upon.”

German Rohr has recorded 20 wins in 35 matches, drawn five and lost 10 since he took charge of the team in 2016.

Telephone calls and messages sent to NFF’s Director of Communications, AdemolaOlajire, on the issue were not replied as at the time of filing this report.