NFF pleads with fans saying it does not gave the funds to sack Peseiro and pay him compensation

NIGERIAN Football Federation (NFF) officials have pleaded with the fans to bear with them and the Super Eagles as the association does  not have the funds to sack head coach Jose Peseiro despite it being obvious he has to go.

Yesterday, Nigeria played another lacklustre 1-1 with Zimbabwe, putting the Eagles' 2026 Wold Cup qualification in jeopardy. After opening the campaign with a woeful 1-1 draw at home to lowly Lesotho, Nigeria now has just two points from as many games and calls for head coach Peseiro to be sacked are now deafening.

Under pressure from the fans, the NFF has looked at sacking Mr Peseiro but board member Nse Essien, said they cannot dismiss him as the federation cannot afford to pay his severance fee. If the NFF sack Mr Peseiro, the federation will have to buy out the rest of his contract, which keeps him in place until the end of the next African Cup of Nations in February next year.

Mr Essien said: “It is unfortunate that instead of six points from two games, we have just two.  We have put ourselves in a very difficult situation but when you say the NFF should sack the coach, we didn’t employ him.

“When you come to look at it, it was the sports ministry that employed him. They should have paid his salary but up till now, they have not paid a dime. If you sack the coaches now, who pays the compensation? Not a dime has been paid to this coach, who earns around $70,000 every month.

"If you sack him, you leave us with the responsibilities, and Nigerians will also crucify us. We have to respect his contract but if we had the money to give him, why wouldn’t we relieve him because we are not happy.”

With the Africa Cup of Nations just a few weeks away, the Eagles do not look like championship contenders. Next year, the Eagles will resume the World Cup qualifiers in June with a home game against South Africa and it most likely that Mr Peseiro would have been replaced by then.