By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The President of the Nigeria Football Federation,(NFF) Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has revealed details of the contract given to new Super Eagles coach Finidi George.
Recall that the former Super Eagles winger was appointed the coach of the senior national men’s team, and unveiled by the board at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium on Monday, 13 May, 2024.
Details of his contract were shrouded in secrecy with some media reports saying the federation only committed him to a one-year deal.
However, refuting the claims on Soccer Africa, a popular TV show in South Africa, the NFF boss, “I don’t know where the one-year contract information emanated from, all I know is that, as far as our contract with Finidi is concerned, he is going to be in charge of the team till the end of 2026.
“So I don’t think 2026 is going to be a one-year contract.The key thing is, in every contract, there must be some indices and some targets that you must put in place for somebody in order for him to get optimal performance.
“And the first target is to qualify the team for next year’s Nations Cup and to get to at least the semi-finals of the Nations Cup, as well as qualify the team to the World Cup and to get us the target of playing in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
“So these are the main targets we put in place for him in the contract, and by the grace of God, we are working hard to see how we can achieve that,” he added.
Gusau also stated that the federation didn’t force George to choose his assistants.
Daniel Amokachi, Benjamin James, Olatunji Baruwa, Chima Onyeike, and Mehmet Ozturk will be assistants to former Enyimba FC gaffer
“I was very happy when we unveiled Finidi to Nigeria. The NFF Technical Director put all the names on the list, and they chose the best they felt would work. All the names you saw as assistants to Finidi were chosen by him,” Gusau said.
The Super Eagles will host South Africa in their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Friday, June 7, 2024.
The three-time African champions will travel to face Benin at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan three days later.
