Super Eagles goalkeeping coach Ike Shorunmu has hit back at the Nigeria Football Federation, saying he lied to Nigerians that he was out of the team’s camp for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations double-header qualifier against Guinea Bissau on Friday, The PUNCH reports. .
Shorunmu told The PUNCH on Monday that he and assistant coach Finidi George were told by the NFF not to include them in the squad for the 2023 AFCON qualifiers against Guinea-Bissau at the request of coach Jose Peseiro.
However, the NFF responded on Monday – in a statement made available to our correspondent – that the federation had implemented a “rotation policy” among assistant coaches as part of cost-cutting measures.
On 15 May 2022, the NFF, after parting ways with Franco-German Gernot Rohr, appointed Peseiro as the new Eagles coach, appointed Finidi as the Portuguese’s first assistant, while Salisu Yusuf was the second assistant coach and Usman Abdallah was the third assistant coach. Shorunmu was appointed goalkeeping coach, and Eboboritse Uwejamomere as game analyst.
But the NFF announced in a statement that they had to reduce the number of technical team officials for the games, “due to the large number”.
The federation added that there is “no victimization, cheating or disrespect in their decision”.
The statement read: “As part of the cost-cutting measures put in place at the beginning of the new administration, we implemented a high-volume assistant coaching rotation policy, which was agreed upon by all. The last time the team had a program, it was Mr. Finidi George who traveled to the friendly match in Portugal. This shift policy is for matches only. When there is a tournament, everyone will be with the team.
“Then he knew that the next trip would be for Mr. Usman Abdallah. Abdallah is taking a camp turn for the Super Eagles Vs Djurtus program in Guinea Bissau, and Mr. George will be there for the next program.
“The other person who could have been in the lead, Mr. Salisu Yusuf, has been sent to the U23 team. There was no victimization, condescension or disrespect for our famous former international players.’
The NFF added that Shorunmu “showed a clear lack of desire to be in the camps for the matches against Guinea Bissau”.
“The case of goalkeeping coach Ike Shorounmu is a curious one, as the former Nigeria goalkeeper was visibly unwilling to be in camp for the matches against Guinea Bissau.
“We don’t want to go into details because we have the utmost respect for all our former internationals, including Mr. Shorounmu. When we got a clear signal that he didn’t want to come, and the coach was hesitant, he (Coach Peseiro) asked for the services of Olatunji Baruwa, who he saw in action during the U20 AFCON. Egypt, to help with the training of goalkeepers.
“We agree that there are several challenges regarding the contracts of national team coaches, which we need to resolve quickly. The NFF is working on this and the issues will soon be in the past,” added the federation.
But former Besiktas goalkeeper Shorunmu denied the NFF’s claim, saying the federation had not acted professionally.
“It is easy for the NFF to say that I did not want to report to the camp because the people at the helm are earning salary, while we assistant coaches have been working without a contract since May 2022 and have not been paid for months,” Shorunmu told The PUNCH.
“We asked for contracts last November after the friendly match against Portugal and we were told that the new NFF board had just been elected and our contract documents would be ready by last December, but as I speak, nothing has been done.
“We asked why Salisu Yusuf and Usman Abdallah were left out of the squad for the match against Portugal. We were never informed of the rotation policy and it is very unfair to say that I was reluctant to join the camp. As professionals, they should come out and tell the truth and not lie and misinform Nigerians. They should give us what we deserve and not color the truth.”
