On Thursday morning, news of the German's sacking by the NFF made the rounds, sparking diverse reactions among Nigerians.
Coach of Nigeria's Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, will receive a hefty compensation of $2 million (approximately N822 million) if sacked by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
On Thursday morning, news of the German's sacking by the NFF made the rounds, sparking diverse reactions among Nigerians.
However, the football body, through its spokesperson, Ademola Olajire, swiftly moved to deny the news.
According to findings by SaharaReporters, the NFF is desperately searching for a clever way to ease Rohr out without having to pay the $2 million compensation clause in his contract and other financial entitlements he will be due.
In May 2020, Rohr signed a contract extension to keep him in charge of the Super Eagles until after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar with the hefty payout clause.
The coach, who earns around $55,000 monthly, is paid partly by some of the NFF's sponsors including Aieto Insurance and other prominent companies.
The sponsors are said to have grown frustrated by the team's poor displays in recent times and have been pushing for Rohr's dismissal.
Last month, the Central African Republic defeated the Super Eagles in Lagos during the recently concluded FIFA World Cup qualifiers, drawing criticisms from a large section of football fans across Nigeria.
The climax of that anger against Rohr and the poor displays of the team came in the last two matches of the qualifiers against Liberia and Cape Verde where the Eagles struggled to grind out the needed result to qualify for the play-offs.
A source in the NFF told SaharaReporters on Thursday that paying Rohr's compensation if he were to be sacked was a big deal at the moment as the football federation doesn't have such funds.
"The money he will be paid if sacked is huge, that is a major factor delaying his dismissal. If he resigns, the burden will be lessened," the source said.
Condemning the huge compensation inserted into the German's contract, former Super Eagles attacker, Daniel Amokachi, said the move was a big mistake by the NFF.
"You put a $2 million clause on a coach that has never won anything. A coach that came from Burkina Faso to Tunisia then to Nigeria and you put a $2 million clause, that’s the first I’m hearing such.
“For a coach that has not done anything, not achieved anything and you put a $2 million clause? There’s a lot of failure in that. I’ll not rate them (NFF) out of 10, but all these things I’ve broken down will tell anybody with commonsense where I’m coming from,” he said.
Rohr was appointed head coach of the Super Eagles in August 2016 and led the team to a third-place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
He had previously coached Burkina Faso and Tunisia before his appointment by Nigeria.
He took over from former Super Eagles midfielder, Sunday Oliseh, who left the job months after his appointment following a disagreement with the NFF.