The president of the Nigerian Football Federation, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, has claimed that the FIFA ruling on Gernot Rohr's case would be challenged.
Rohr was removed as the Super Eagles manager in December 2021 just weeks before the January 2022 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. The German claimed he was owed some payments as his contract still had some months left, and submitted a petition to FIFA on the issue.
FIFA's investigation revealed that the German's claims were true and awarded him a $377,879.46 settlement and threatened sanctions on the NFF if the payment was not completed in 45 days.
Pinnick, however, came to explain why FIFA awarded the little sum while also noting that they would appeal the ruling claiming that the NFF had paid Rohr before sacking him.
“That’s not the true position,” Pinnick said of the ruling in a chat with local media. “FIFA declined most of his (Rohr’s) requests and said we should pay him $377,879.46 because we paid him six months in lieu.
“We are still debating whether to go to CAS and tell them to convert that money we paid him to what FIFA wants us to pay him.”
Meanwhile, one of the NFF's golden boys, Victor Osimhen, is being listed as the reason Napoli dropped from the title race in the Serie A this season.
These claims are being made by Diego Maradona's manager, Stefano Ceci, who claims that the 23-year-old's long injury spell during the season destabilised the team.
Osimhen missed three months of action after breaking his face in a clash in late November, weeks before the AFCON in Cameroon last January. Napoli struggled in front of goal I'm that time, and Ceci noted that the Partenopei would have stood a better chance of Osimhen was fit.
“Why didn’t Napoli win the Scudetto? First of all, it must be said that important players like Osimhen have been missing for some time,” Ceci, who once managed Maradona, told local media.
“Then it must be said that in Naples, it is not at all easy to win. I still remember Cannavaro’s words when he moved to Juventus. He said exactly: ‘Here, you have to win.’
“We were lucky enough to win championships with Maradona, but we also remember how those successes were achieved.”
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago
