Pinnick speaks on foreign coach, percentage of home-based players in Nigeria XI, Peseiro, third term

Amaju Pinnick, President of the Nigeria Football Federation, has revealed that the Board has decided that a foreign coach will be appointed for the Super Eagles within the next ten days, but has not mentioned a frontrunner for the vacant job.

Last week, the Federation announced that they have terminated the appointment of the entire Super Eagles technical crew with immediate effect in the aftermath of the country's failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

In addition, the Nigeria Football Federation pulled the plug on offering two and a half year contracts to Augustine Eguavoen, Emmanuel Amuneke, Salisu Yusuf and Joseph Yobo.

Speaking on Arise News, Pinnick said : "One thing I can guarantee you is we are getting a foreign coach, within the next seven to ten days we'll announce a foreign coach."

Pinnick has discussed with the NFF's Executive Committee the possibility of having a percentage of Nigeria Professional Football League stars in the Super Eagles starting lineup in future matches.

For the World Cup playoff with the Black Stars in Abuja, six players born abroad started for the Super Eagles, namely Ola Aina, William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Calvin Bassey, Joe Aribo and Ademola Lookman.

The Nigeria Football Federation previously announced Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro as the coach of the senior national team but the deal did not see the light of day due to financial issues and clauses in the proposed contract.

When asked if the NFF is going back to Peseiro, Pinnick answered : "It's not impossible but would he want to come? If he would want to come then it will be a major plus for us because it shows that he loves the country.

"I told them in our Executive Committee meeting, are we going to have a percentage of home-based players in any of the Super Eagles lineup? Is it going to be part of the contract of the coach?

"They should look deeply into it because we also need to develop it."

Amaju Pinnick's tenure as Nigerian Federation President is coming to a close and there are unconfirmed reports out there that he may be running for a third term.

When asked to confirm the report, Pinnick said : "First am I eligible to run? Yes I am eligible to run based on our statutes. Do I want to run at this moment? It's a no-no because my family says so at the moment.

"My family is very key to me, they have seen that I've put in my all, I've done my best, they've seen that it's taking a toll on me, taking a toll on the family and they believe it's time that I should move on.

"It's a very regrettable decision," Pinnick added.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel