Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick has directed Super Eagles’ Manager, Gernot Rohr to monitor domestic competitions for players for his team. Pinnick said the continued dependence on players based overseas was undermining the development of Nigerian football, noting that inviting 23 foreign-based stars for a match against lowly-rated teams like Seychelles was a waste of resources.
Speaking on a radio programme monitored in Lagos yesterday, Pinnick agreed that talents abound in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), adding that they needed encouragement to get to the desired level.
He said, “Gernot Rohr’s continuous focus on foreign-based players for national team’s assignments is not right. If he uses foreign-based players against a team like Seychelles, I wonder what would happen when we play against big teams like Cameroon and the others.
“Rohr should imitate Super Falcons’ coach, who is always in the country sourcing for domestic talents for his team.”
Pinnick also revealed that he had been told of Rohr’s reservations about Super Eagles playing an international friendly against Uganda in Asaba, adding, however, that the coach had no right to choose the venue Nigeria’s senior national team would play their matches. Read more