NFF terminates Keshi's contract

The Nigeria Football Federation on Saturday terminated the contract of Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi after the NFF Executive Committee held an extra-ordinary meeting in Abuja.

A statement from the football house stated “having thoroughly reviewed the reports/findings of the NFF Disciplinary Committee and NFF Technical and Development Committee, as well as having reviewed the actions and inactions of Mr Stephen Keshi, in the performance of his duties as Super Eagles’ Head Coach, which we found to lack the required commitment to achieve the Federation’s objectives as set out in the Coach’s employment contract.”

Keshi has been under fire since a report broke out he had applied for the vacant Ivory Coast job and it that has effectively put paid to his reign as the coach of the national team.

The statement further stated that “To this end and pursuant to the provisions of Clause 4.3 of the Employment Contract between Mr Stephen Keshi and the NFF (The Contract) and the various clauses therein, the Nigeria Football Federation has decided to exercise its option to summarily terminate the employment contract of Mr Stephen Keshi with the Federation with immediate effect.”

The NFF also added that Keshi's sack was “without prejudice to the settlement of any existing and due financial obligations between the NFF and Mr Keshi.”

The federation through it's first vice president, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, has appealed to Nigerians to remain calm as the NFF is doing everything it can to build a national team the country can be proud of while also revealing that Super Eagles assistant coach Salisu Yusuf and Technical Director of the NFF Shuaibu Amodu will handle affairs of the team before a suitable replacement is found.

“In the interim, the Super Eagles’ team affairs will be jointly managed by Assistant Coach Salisu Yusuf and the Technical Directorate of the NFF, headed by Coach Shuaibu Amodu, until the Federation names in due course a new Head Coach, who, along with the NFF will chart a new direction for the Super Eagles to ensure credible participation in international competitions and assist in building a sustainable football culture for the country,” said Akinwunmi. 

The 53-year-old was into his second spell as the Super Eagles coach after holding the reigns from 2011.

He won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations with the Super Eagles but has been on a battle lane with the federation since then.