Afrigather Whereas the general public feud between Victor Osimhen and Finidi George has dominated headlines, a extra urgent difficulty has quietly unraveled.
Finidi George has resigned as head coach of the Tremendous Eagles, only a month after his appointment.
Finidi’s tenure started on a shaky word, with the Tremendous Eagles struggling a harmful 1-0 defeat to the Benin Republic following a 1-1 draw towards South Africa. These outcomes have jeopardized Nigeria’s probabilities of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a scenario made extra important by the nation’s failure to qualify for the 2022 match.
In response, the Sports activities Ministry has queried the Nigerian Soccer Federation (NFF).
The NFF subsequently introduced plans to nominate a overseas Technical Adviser who would oversee Finidi, successfully demoting him to his earlier function as assistant coach. Reviews point out Finidi’s wage can be diminished from N15 million to N5 million.
Finidi alleges that the NFF didn’t talk these modifications to him clearly, a transfer arguably extra disrespectful than Osimhen’s viral rant.
Whereas Osimhen’s social media outburst drew widespread consideration, the NFF’s dealing with of Finidi’s scenario has been extra damaging.
Finidi George is a revered determine in Nigerian soccer, having loved a profitable taking part in profession with Ajax, together with successful the UEFA Champions League. He has additionally confirmed his teaching credentials, main Enyimba to the NPFL title and serving as assistant coach when Nigeria reached the AFCON closing in February.
Regardless of not being the obvious alternative for head coach, the NFF noticed potential in Finidi after they appointed him. Reasonably than supporting him by way of preliminary challenges, they appeared to undermine him after simply two video games.
Finidi confronted quite a few challenges, together with accidents to key gamers and late arrivals to camp. Whereas he might have made errors, it was anticipated that his bosses would assist him.
As an alternative, it appears the NFF set him as much as fail, giving them an excuse to revert to overseas coaches who typically obtain higher assist than their native counterparts.
Finidi ought to actually handle Osimhen’s disrespectful feedback, however he should not lose sight of the bigger difficulty—the NFF’s therapy. The true insult and disrespect come from the NFF, which has didn’t again considered one of Nigeria’s soccer legends in his time of want.
NB: Did the NFF deal with Finidi effectively because the Tremendous Eagles coach? Depart your feedback beneath.
