x-international, Sylvanus Okpala holds no punches when it comes to football discourse. He was made the assistant Super Eagles coach under Stephen Keshi. But he was summarily disengaged by Nigeria Football Federation administration of Aminu Maigari after the national team won the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa and it seems the hornets’ nest was stirred. In this round-table interview with JACOB AJOM and BEN EFE, Okpala who says he has no regrets taking NFF to the Court of Arbitration for Sports bares his mind on burning football matters.
How has it been so far since you left the Super Eagles?
I thank God, today I am alive in the land of the living, I am healthy and very happy with myself.
Did you miss the team at all?
Okpala
Oh yes! I did as a football coach. To be in the Nigerian national team is something that is very special being an ex international who played for the national teams. I was the first captain of the Flying Eagles, once captain of the Super Eagles and the first Nigerian player from home to sign a professional contract in Europe. That was in 1982, when Nigerian players were still in darkness. I am part of Nigerian football history.
You have made it clear to us that football is like the air you breath. Why is it only the national team the ex-internationals like yourself, are ever eager to coach; why not the clubs?
No I don’t think so. Have you forgotten? I was a coach with Enyimba, I was a coach with Rangers
before joining the national team. I started with the clubs before the national team.
When you were with the national team what kind of relationship did you have with the other coaches especially Keshi?
We were very united and we handled the job professionally. For some reasons we were asked to go. If we had remained intact without the distractions after we won the Nations Cup in 2013 Nigerian football would have been in a very good position today especially the Super Eagles.
So, is that why the team is struggling to qualify for the Nations Cup 2017?
No, the team is not struggling, but playing to qualify. We haven’t reached the point of struggling and God will not make us struggle. A new coach has been appointed. I hope he does well.
What is your opinion on Sunday Oliseh’s appointment?
Well, I knew him as a player. I don’t know him as a coach. I have no doubt he may do a very good job.
You took the NFF to the Court of Sports Arbitration over your unpaid allowances after you were removed from the Eagles bench. Do you have any regrets about your action?
I have no regrets about it all. It was my money. I was fighting for it and I went to the appropriate quarters to seek redress. I didn’t go out of FIFA to seek justice. And you know that there are rules governing the game of football and any nation affiliated to FIFA must obey these laws and rules. It was a very simple thing. I was hurt and I needed redress, I wanted to get my money and I went to the right place.
Has the NFF settled you?
They paid me the first instalment. I am still waiting for the outstanding. They said they are going to pay, so I am still waiting.
At the moment Stephen Keshi has filed a suit against the NFF over his sack. NFF seems confident that Keshi does not have any case against it. Is it that the officials of the NFF did not learn any lesson from your own case?
If you ask me for advise; I will tell the NFF to seek mediation. Because if they go for mediation, they will give out less money. If they allow the case to get to court, they may end up spending more money. There are laws governing football. For example, in the FIFA statutes there isn’t any law that stops football federations from sacking coaches, but only that you need to fulfil certain obligations… call the man involved and do the needful. Just like when Ghana sacked Kwesi Appiah, they called him and they mutually parted with him. I read in the papers that Keshi wants to go to CAS, I haven’t spoken with him.
There is no rule stopping a coach from seeking another job while he is holding one. For instance, I read in the newspapers that Pep Guardiola has had an agreement with Manchester City, while still with Bayern Munich. The German club have not sacked him. This is one of the excuses the NFF gave for sacking Keshi. The other was that he called someone to camp without the authorisation of the NFF technical committee. It was the same NFF that paid the player’s airfare and camp allowances. If they didn’t like him, they would not have paid such allowances. The truth is that they were in a hurry to get rid of Keshi. They would have allowed Keshi to finish his contract. They had Oliseh in mind for a long time.
But considering the obvious breakdown in relationship between Keshi and the NFF do you think he could have walked away in the long run?
No! No coach has walked away from his job. Because if he walks away, he will lose money. Remember Jose Mourinho during his first spell with Chelsea, he had a strained relationship with the owner, but he never walked away, the same with David Moyes who was subjected to abuse during his time with Manchester United. He stayed until the club called him and let him go after he was amicably settled.
Recently Carlo Ancelotti, they never allowed him near the bench in their last five games, but he waited until he was eventually asked to leave. Nobody walks away. Even if Keshi had gone to Ivory Coast, the NFF should have allowed him to stay instead of making all that trouble going to Ivory Coast to investigate. Had Keshi gotten the job, the NFF would have held him for breach of contract and then asked for compensation from him and the Ivorian federation. And if they refuse to pay, NFF will take Keshi and Ivory Coast to CAS. And if they get redress they can use that money to hire Oliseh for one year. There are rules governing the game and you cannot bend the rules.
It is like you are very sympathetic to Keshi?
I worked with him for a year and half. From what I observed he is a very good coach. Other people can have their own opinions about him. I cannot say, if he did anything wrong.
You were an ex-international who knows about the sentiments attached to the jersey number 10. Yet Keshi invited a player nobody knew about to play for Nigeria in that jersey?
There is nothing wrong with that. I know of some big stars in jersey number 10 invited by their country and they were put on the bench. I don’t think that is an issue. It was not all the professionals invited that played the game.
We have heard of stories about Football agents putting pressure on the national team coaches. What is your say on this issue?
I don’t know if this is true, because I have not experienced that kind of a thing. Nobody has ever approached me so I don’t know about it.
Do you think that the NFF will give Oliseh ample room to do his job?
I wouldn’t know. All I know is that we have to give him the support he needs to succeed. Not just the NFF, but all Nigerians.
What do you make of Oliseh’s stand of inviting only players who are in big clubs only?
I don’t know how he’ll do that. How many players in the squad of 94 were playing with big clubs in Europe? Oliseh was playing in Belgium, Uche Okechwukwu was playing in a lower division club. Also take for instance the Cameroon squad at Italian ’90; most of their players were in the second division clubs, but they went there and performed. So I don’t think Oliseh meant to say that. Is he saying that, if he sees a good player in the amateur ranks he won’t invite him? People misunderstood what he said.
Okpala
You were once part of the national team. You will agree that we don’t have outstanding players again.
Once in a country’s football life there will always be a downturn. Look at Brazil, they are not what they used to be. Those kind of players you are talking about come once in a while. But in another two or three years you will see them springing up again. The national team is not a club
and no country has been able to maintain a stable team. Germany, they were down when they hosted the world in 2006, they were beaten in the quarter-finals. But after four years or more they are back to the top. It is normal, but we have to work hard on our team. I agree we had exceptional players in the past, but now we don’t have.
Were you pained that we didn’t qualify for the Nations Cup 2015?
Of course. I felt so bad as a Nigerian that we failed to defend the Nations Cup in 2015. But then there was a lot of distraction and confusion. There were fears that FIFA was going to ban Nigeria. The players were confused, everybody was confused. It was hard for the players and coaches to concentrate. You read everyday in the newspapers that Nigeria would be suspended. There was even a letter from FIFA to that effect. No player or coach would be settled; that was what primarily caused our failure to qualify.
Where are you coaching presently?
I am coaching my family. But I have had offers. I am not interested because there is a lot of discomfort in Nigerian club football and the money has to be good for me to get involved. I am not asking for too much money. Money is not everything, but you have to be able to get money to take care of your needs.
People believed that you are a hard-liner?
I am not a hard-liner. It showed when I was with the Super Eagles at the Nations Cup. Some people only thought that they could push me aside, so I had to fight back. There was no reason for them to sack me. And when that happened I had to take measures within the rules of the game. I played football and football passed through me. And so at all times I want to ensure that the rules are followed. Other nations are obeying the rules, that is why their football is on top. You can’t cut corners, you must obey the rules and there is nothing like Nigerian factor in it.
I am not a hard man. I am only agitating for the right thing to be done. When you pay others and you don’t pay me like Maigari did, there is always going to be a problem. He gave me 50 percent of my bonus, when in fact the government gave him 100 percent (laughs) It is laughable; isn’t it?
If you see Maigari, will shake him?
I’ll shake him if he is willing to shake me. I don’t have anything against him other than he did not pay me. He is a good administrator. There is no enmity in sports. I am a sportsman who fights for his rights and the rights of players.
If am offered the job of the Eagles, I’ll take it. It is my fatherland. I am ready to work for my fatherland.
NB
Okpala went to CAS because Maigari ordered that his Nations Cup bonuses be slashed by 50%. NFF could not defend that action and Okpala won his case.
Keshi intends to fight for compensation for sacking him before the end of his contract. Okpala’s victory has encouraged him. John Obuh, Christian Chukwu, Amodu Shuaibu, Austin Eguavoen are among the coaches the football house owed salaries, bonuses and never settled before disengaging them. Same happens in our clubs. Okpala’s lead may change the face of Nigerian football even if it takes time.
Vanguard
No comments:
Post a Comment