A chief for one of Bafana Bafana's CAF 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying opponents has surprisingly revealed why they have not sacked their head coach following a run of disappointing results.
Nse Essien, a Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board member, has admitted to being unhappy with the Super Eagles' current head coach Jose Peseiro after a run of poor results, but revealed that they are unable to sack him due to the financial implications of such an action.
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Nigeria have begun the 2026 World Cup qualifiers poorly, drawing 1-1 with Lesotho, who are ranked 153rd by FIFA, in their opening match of the campaign.
On Sunday, they were once again unable to secure three points, claiming just one following another 1-1 draw, this time with Zimbabwe – a win over the Warriors would have seen them leapfrog Bafana to the top of Group C.
After missing out on four points from a possible six, though, frustration towards Peseiro has grown among fans as well as those in the boardroom. However, while Essien has suggested that the NFF would relieve the Portuguese tactician of his duties if it could, the federation is unable to do so as it is the country's ministry of sports who appointed him.
"The Sports Ministry who employed him were supposed to pay for their salaries. But up till now, nothing has been paid," he stated, as per Politics Nigeria.
"If we sack the coaches now, who will pay compensation?
"Not a dime has been paid yet to this coach who earns about $70 000 (R1.2 million) a month.
"We have to respect Jose Peseiro's contract.
"If we had the money to give to him [as compensation for sacking him], we are going to relieve him.
"We are not happy."
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Meanwhile, Nigeria and Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi has insisted that flying for four hours ahead of that Zimbabwe stalemate did not help the team.
"He [Peseiro] has already said the travel was a lot for us, after the game [against Lesotho] we had to fly four hours then another three-hour coach down here which was not easy, but as a player, we should not use that as an excuse," the ex-Arsenal star said, per Daily Post Nigeria.
"We are professional enough and we have lots of quality in the side."
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