NFF not under pressure to give Keshi new contract– Pinnick

The President of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Amaju Pinnick, has denied reports that he and the rest of his board are under severe pressure to hand a new contract to Coach Stephen Keshi before the year runs out.

Though Keshi failed in his bid to qualify Nigeria for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, there are claims that he has the backing of the Presidency and has been lorded over the NFF for a new contract.

But the NFF president in a chat with reporters in Abuja said the board is not under pressure to renew the contract of Stephen Keshi as Super Eagles coach.

“Contracts are not signed overnight and there are factors to be sorted out before we sign. We are talking with Keshi but I am not under pressure to employ Keshi, we just want to do the right things to work in harmony,” he said.

“We changed our resolve to re-engage Keshi but there are issues to be tidied up in a contract between the two parties. We have to look at so many issues like our budget, whether we accommodate his demands and whether he can work with our technical study group,” he added.

Indeed opinions have been divided on whether Keshi should stay on as the Eagles gaffer.

The newly confirmed Technical director for the NFF, Shaibu Amodu, has publicly spoken against the move to keep the Keshi as he argued that doing such will amount to double standards and glorifying failure.

“As a coach you are as good as your last game. If as at when they asked me to take over from him and I reckoned that it would affect my reputation if I failed, I expect any professional coach to assume the same position now, which is referring to Keshi.

“So he alone will decide whether he has a reputation or not. If he has a reputation, he should walk out of the job but if he doesn’t, he should stay like a beggar”, Amodu, a former Super Eagles Coach stated.