Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi may be on a collision course with his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation, with his decision to be among a panel of experts on continental sports channel SuperSport during January’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
The sub-technical committee of the NFF has said that Keshi has not officially informed the federation of his intentions even though the broadcaster has already begun advertising him among its panel of pundits for the tournament.
Keshi was a SuperSport analyst during the 2010 Fifa World Cup. If he takes the job, he will be engaged with the job for a full month, leaving him with only 12 days before playing his first Nigeria competitive match, an Afcon 2013 qualifier against Rwanda in February.
“Keshi may have signed a contract to do analysis job for [SuperSport] but this is coming at a time when we have a big game in February. Besides he will be away for a month and what happens to preparation for the game against Rwanda,” the committee’s spokesman Paul Bassey told SuperSport.
“Yes he has called up some home-based players but it must be recognised that he will be away for a month and it will be just 12 days before the Rwanda game by the time he returns and that’s too short a time to prepare a team for such a game as the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Also if he goes away for a month, who picks up his salary of N5 million for staying away from his duty post? Now let me put it straight that the NFF or its technical committee is yet to take any decision on this.
“But we will wait till Keshi makes this formal and then we will discuss with him and if his reasons (to go for the job) are genuine then it is left for the body to decide,” Bassey said.