Amaechi denies ordering Amodu’s sack as Shehata joins list

The Chairman of Presidential Task Force on South Africa 2010 World Cup, Chibuke Rotimi Amaechi has said neither him nor any member of the task force told the Nigeria Football Federation to sack Super Eagles coach Shuaibu Amodu.

In the aftermath of the Super Eagles unimpressive performances at the just concluded Angola 2010 Africa Nations Cup there were reports in the media that members of the task force called on the NFF to sack Amodu and employ a foreign coach immediately.

But Amaechi, who is also the governor of Rivers State, said the reports are not true. “We did meet with officials of NFF in Angola when we noticed that the team was struggling, but we never told them to fire the coach. All we said was, ‘look, both the players and the technical crew are struggling, if you guys need assistance let us know, so that we could come to your aid’. We never asked them to sack the coach and overhauled the team,” he said.

Amaechi declined to comment about the problem with the Super Eagles and the technical crew, saying, he will only do so after the World Cup.

Shehata on the list

Meanwhile, Egypt’s record-breaking coach Hassan Shehata is now one of the coaches shortlisted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to replace Amodu who was sacked last Friday, less than a week after the conclusion of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

Five coaches - Dutchmen Guus Hiddink and Louis van Gaal, Frenchman Bruno Metsu, Serbian Ratomir Djukovic and Englishman Peter Taylor - were, shortly after Friday’s announcement, listed as potential replacements for the erstwhile Super Eagles handler. The Egyptian’s name had been conspicuously missing especially as he had earlier been approached during the Cup of Nations by the NFF about his availability to lead the Super Eagles to the World Cup.

The NFF at the weekend however included the 60-year-old Shehata in the shortlist of potential Super Eagles coaches thus bringing the number of coaches being considered for the job to six.

“Hassan Shehata is one of the coaches we have shortlisted for the job so the list has increased to six,” the chairman of the NFF’s Technical Committee Taiwo Ogunjobi said a telephone interview with NEXTSports.

However, Ogunjobi did not say why the Egyptian’s name was missing from the initial list made public by the NFF, but confirmed that there had actually been a meeting between the NFF and Shehata during the Cup of Nations in Angola thus confirming the Egyptian’s claims that he had been approached by Nigeria.

Sealed lips

Ogunjobi also refused to disclose who amongst the six shortlisted coaches would be submitted by the Technical Committee to the Sports Ministry, as well as the Presidential Task Force, who will foot the bills for the employment of the new Super Eagles handler.

The Technical Committee have until the end of February to screen the shortlisted coaches and submit a list of three coaches.

After following Egypt’s success in Angola, Shehata was handed a new deal by the Egyptian FA that will run until 2014, while Hiddink is currently charged with the task of qualifying Russia for the 2012 European Championships to be co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland.

Metsu is currently with the Qatari national side, Djukovic is with the Serbian U-21 team, while van Gaal is in charge of German side Bayern Munich. Former England caretaker coach Taylor is the only unemployed coach on the NFF’s shortlist.