BBC’s Osasu Obayiuwana, who is regarded as the closest journalist to Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr, has given two reasons for the Franco-German not living in Nigeria.
Nigerian Federation supremo Amaju Pinnick has claimed that they are ready to offer the former Bayern Munich defender a new contract provided that he accepts to live in Lagos or Abuja and monitors potential Super Eagles players in the Nigerian Professional Football League.
A Nigeria coach since 2016, Rohr’s current contract expires in the next three months and the Nigerian Federation have insisted that he must bow to their demands before putting pen to paper on a new deal.
Explaining why Rohr is not living in Nigeria at the moment, Obayiuwana said on Twitter : “The Super Eagles players – 100% of them are in Europe.
“Gernot has always been prepared to live in Nigeria. But the Nigerian Federation rented a huge house in Abuja that he never picked himself.
“Should they not have allowed Rohr to choose the accommodation in which he wants to live?”
Regarding the proposal to force home based players on Rohr, Obayiuwana argued that the local lads are not on the same level as their foreign counterparts.
“It is not the duty of the Super Eagles coach to turn NPFL players into players of international/national team standard.
“The league itself is supposed to do that. And if it’s unable to, then this speaks to the level of technical know-how in Nigerian club football.”
Pinnick has warned Rohr that other coaches have expressed their interest in coaching the national team if he does not accept the conditions to be inserted into his new contract.
