NFF, Stephen Keshi contract feud ends today

After a long battle over the coaching job of the Nigeria senior national team, Super Eagles, which has seen the Eagles’ form dip in recent times, hope seems to be on the way, as fresh breath seems to have finally arrived.

The three-time African champions have been without a coach since June 2014 when Keshi’s first contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) expired.

Sanusi Mohammed, general secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, disclosed to supersport.com that the much awaited signing of a new contract by coach Stephen Keshi would be done by Friday.

“I promise you by Friday, the issue of who becomes the coach of the Super Eagles will be over because it will be sorted out finally. So by Friday we will all know the new coach of the Super Eagles,” Sanusi confirmed.

Keshi is due to arrive Abuja from his base in Benin for the Friday unveiling.

A reliable source confirmed that the Big Boss has finally agreed to the terms of the NFF as regards his new two-year contract.

“Keshi has agreed with the leadership of the NFF on his new two-year contract that would expire after the finals of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, if Nigeria qualifies anyway.”

The new deal will see Keshi earn five-million naira monthly and would report to the technical committee of the NFF.

The NFF scribe also spoke on plans to bring in more investors into the game to support football development, and not relying solely on the Federal government for financial support.

“I want to use this medium also to call on all aggrieved parties and friends that love football to please come together to move the game to the next level. Let’s build our football together,” he added.

Keshi on his part revealed that he is to meet with the NFF and sign the contract on Friday.

“Yes, I have been called for the contract signing. It is happening this week. We’ll tidy it all up,” Keshi was quoted by SportingLife as saying.

The 53-year-old’s contract ended after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil where he led Nigeria to the second round, the first time since 1998.

Keshi led Nigeria’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign without a contract and speculations had been rife over his future with the Nigeria national team.

After failing to qualify for the 2015 Afcon, Nigeria will commence their quest to reach the 2017 tournament in Gabon with a game against Chad on June 12th and 14th.

The Super Eagles will also face Tanzania and Egypt in qualifying Group G and Sanusi is upbeat about the chances of Nigeria progressing from the group.

“We want to make Nigerians have faith in the Super Eagles again. We will strive to do well in the Afcon qualifiers and hopefully we will come out of our group,” he said.

While the NFF faced internal crisis of its own, his contract was not renewed as he was asked to work on a per-game basis as Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.