Ikpeba says NFF has failed as Eguavoen claims he warned against sacking Rohr
Former African Footballer of the Year Victor Ikpeba has tagged the Amaju Pinnick-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) a failure for not qualifying Nigeria for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ikpeba who is also a member of the NFF Technical Committee admitted that the board has failed Nigeria despite the huge support the federation received from the government.
He, however, said that sacking the board was not the solution but the board should see out its tenure.
“I think the NFF has failed Nigeria and being a member of the technical committee, I think we have not played our role enough,” Ikpeba was quoted as saying by Sports Day “ We cannot sack the board but we just have to wait for the system to take its course. Pinnick can re-contest if he wants to as the delegates have the right to reject him.”
Ikpeba also said Victor Osimhen has the quality to be the best in the world but the former Lille of France needs to improve his game while playing in the Serie A for Napoli.
Meanwhile sacked interim head coach of the Super Eagles, Augustine Eguavoen has claimed he was not in support of the decision of the NFF to fire Gernot Rohr.
Eguavoen replaced Rohr in December ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in January.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, the former international revealed that he complained about the timing of Rohr’s departure.
Ikpeba, who was in the studio, refused to blame Eguavoen for the country’s failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Ikpeba stated that the NFF should bear the responsibility for the Eagles’ absence in Qatar.
“Eguavoen was not in support of the decision to sack Rohr.
In agreement, Eguavoen added: “Yes, I complained about the timing as it was too close to the Africa Cup of Nations,” Ikpeba said.
