Coach Salisu Yusuf in trouble after being caught on camera accepting cash from undercover reporters

SUPER Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf faces being sacked by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) after he was caught on tape receiving taking N360,000 ($1,000) from undercover reporters posing as agents trying to influence him to select players.

Mr Yusuf, 56, coaches Nigeria's home-based team and is an assistant to Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr with a specific brief to uncover local talent. He manages the home-based team that participates in the Championship of African Nations (Chan), taking them to the final last year where they won silver.

In an undercover operation carried out by Ghanaian journalists, who posed as football agents, Mr Yusuf was approached in September last year to select two players for the Chan tournament. In a short video aired on the BBC, Mr Yusuf was seen collecting money from the investigators, who promised him more cash incentives if he selects their players for Chan 2018 which held in Morocco.

One of the reporters said: “So if anything goes through and these players are able to get their contracts, you will get 15% of that contract." Mr Yusuf, apparently replied: “They will be in Chan.”

Both players were eventually selected for Chan 2018 although the investigation stated that there is no suggestion that the money given to Mr Yusuf influenced the selection. Although he replied that team selection is based solely on performances, Mr Yusuf will be facing the wrath of Fifa, the Confederation of African Football and the NFF.

Denying any wrongdoing, Mr Yusuf said he only collected $750 and the money was an unsolicited gift, which did not influence his team selection in any way. He added that the agents offered him the money which was not unusual and it did not breach any Fifa or NFF regulations.