by Kingseyi Sat Jul 21, 2018 7:07 amFormer Super Eagles assistant coach, Sylvanus
Okpala has looked at the performance of Nigeria
at the just concluded World Cup and concluded
that Coach Gernot Rohr should be held
responsible for the poor outing of the team in
Russia. He also spoke with Jacob Ajom on the
leadership tussle that has engulfed the NFF,
saying only the Sports Minister can bring the
matter to an end. Excerpts:
The NFF crisis, what is the way forward?
I agree with the minister on the matter. The last
statement he made, when he said this matter
was an internal matter that could be resolved
internally. I believe that he has a lot of role to
play. I really agree with him that it’s an internal
issue. And being an internal issue he can
resolve it.
Sylvanus Okpala
Some people are already accusing this same
minister of igniting the fire because, they argue
that this case was almost rested before he
came.
The point here is that I am not looking at those
things. I am pointing at the minister from his
last statement. I watched the interview on
television in which he made that statement that
it’s an internal issue which should be resolved
internally. In that wise, he is the one to lead the
talks for peace. He has to initiate the peace
move and call on Giwa and Pinnick to sit down
and settle the matter. That is the only way to
ensure peace in Nigeria football because if
Pinnick wins through FIFA, there may still not be
peace. On the other hand, if Giwa wins through
the court, he may still not make for peace
either. That is why I totally agree with the
minister that the matter is an internal issue
which should be settled internally.
I have read some people saying it wouldn’t
matter if FIFA bans us. That it would afford us
the opportunity to reorganise our football. I
totally disagree with them. My question to such
people is, all those countries that have built
their football, was it as a result of FIFA ban? The
answer is no. So we don’t need a FIFA ban to
rebuild our football. Those who are saying that
are people I would refer to as bad workman that
always quarrels with his tools. They don’t have
ideas on how to improve our football, that is
why they are calling for FIFA ban.
The President of FIFA has spoken and those
clamouring for FIFA ban are saying it will be for
two years. Are we to dictate to FIFA how long
the ban would last? It could be indefinite, until
the right thing is done. And at the end of the
day, it will still come back to Pinnick because
they will still ask you to go back to where you
stopped.
Away from the NFF crisis, Nigeria went to the
World Cup, and against all expectations, the
Super Eagles could not cross the group stage.
Ten days to the commencement of the World
Cup, our coach granted an interview with a
foreign media outfit, saying he was taking a
very young team to the World Cup. He said that
his players were young and that they were going
to use the World Cup to gain experience against
the next World Cup.
Have you ever heard such a thing from a coach?
In my entire football career, I have never heard a
coach say he would use one World Cup to
prepare for the next. This is the first time I am
hearing it.
It sounds funny. What if you fail to qualify for the
next World Cup? It sounds absurd because you
don’t have automatic qualification, even when
you qualify for the World Cup, how many of
those players will still be in the team? My
question is, are you going to continue to play
them even when they are out of form? And I bet,
in the next World Cup, may be only four, five or
six of the current squad can make it to Qatar
2022. If he said that in Europe he could have
been recalled. Because what that means is that
anybody can take them to the World Cup and
get the experience, so to speak. It also means
that he was not sure of himself and the team he
was taking to the World Cup.
France and a few other teams paraded young
players too, but nobody ever said they were
going to use Russia 2018 to train against Qatar
2022.But I tell you, this team Rohr took to
Russia had more quality players than the team
Keshi took to Brazil 2014 and the Argentina of
four years ago was stronger than the Argentina
of this year.
Okpala has looked at the performance of Nigeria
at the just concluded World Cup and concluded
that Coach Gernot Rohr should be held
responsible for the poor outing of the team in
Russia. He also spoke with Jacob Ajom on the
leadership tussle that has engulfed the NFF,
saying only the Sports Minister can bring the
matter to an end. Excerpts:
The NFF crisis, what is the way forward?
I agree with the minister on the matter. The last
statement he made, when he said this matter
was an internal matter that could be resolved
internally. I believe that he has a lot of role to
play. I really agree with him that it’s an internal
issue. And being an internal issue he can
resolve it.
Sylvanus Okpala
Some people are already accusing this same
minister of igniting the fire because, they argue
that this case was almost rested before he
came.
The point here is that I am not looking at those
things. I am pointing at the minister from his
last statement. I watched the interview on
television in which he made that statement that
it’s an internal issue which should be resolved
internally. In that wise, he is the one to lead the
talks for peace. He has to initiate the peace
move and call on Giwa and Pinnick to sit down
and settle the matter. That is the only way to
ensure peace in Nigeria football because if
Pinnick wins through FIFA, there may still not be
peace. On the other hand, if Giwa wins through
the court, he may still not make for peace
either. That is why I totally agree with the
minister that the matter is an internal issue
which should be settled internally.
I have read some people saying it wouldn’t
matter if FIFA bans us. That it would afford us
the opportunity to reorganise our football. I
totally disagree with them. My question to such
people is, all those countries that have built
their football, was it as a result of FIFA ban? The
answer is no. So we don’t need a FIFA ban to
rebuild our football. Those who are saying that
are people I would refer to as bad workman that
always quarrels with his tools. They don’t have
ideas on how to improve our football, that is
why they are calling for FIFA ban.
The President of FIFA has spoken and those
clamouring for FIFA ban are saying it will be for
two years. Are we to dictate to FIFA how long
the ban would last? It could be indefinite, until
the right thing is done. And at the end of the
day, it will still come back to Pinnick because
they will still ask you to go back to where you
stopped.
Away from the NFF crisis, Nigeria went to the
World Cup, and against all expectations, the
Super Eagles could not cross the group stage.
Ten days to the commencement of the World
Cup, our coach granted an interview with a
foreign media outfit, saying he was taking a
very young team to the World Cup. He said that
his players were young and that they were going
to use the World Cup to gain experience against
the next World Cup.
Have you ever heard such a thing from a coach?
In my entire football career, I have never heard a
coach say he would use one World Cup to
prepare for the next. This is the first time I am
hearing it.
It sounds funny. What if you fail to qualify for the
next World Cup? It sounds absurd because you
don’t have automatic qualification, even when
you qualify for the World Cup, how many of
those players will still be in the team? My
question is, are you going to continue to play
them even when they are out of form? And I bet,
in the next World Cup, may be only four, five or
six of the current squad can make it to Qatar
2022. If he said that in Europe he could have
been recalled. Because what that means is that
anybody can take them to the World Cup and
get the experience, so to speak. It also means
that he was not sure of himself and the team he
was taking to the World Cup.
France and a few other teams paraded young
players too, but nobody ever said they were
going to use Russia 2018 to train against Qatar
2022.But I tell you, this team Rohr took to
Russia had more quality players than the team
Keshi took to Brazil 2014 and the Argentina of
four years ago was stronger than the Argentina
of this year.
