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Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, and his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), may be heading for another show down again following the query issued the national team handler on Wednesday.
Keshi was queried for failing to appear before the Technical Committee meeting of the football house on Tuesday.
The Eagles gaffer who has been away on vacation in America shortly after returning from South Africa where his home-based team won the bronze of the 2014 African Nations Championships (CHAN), was at the TomTom Editors’ Roundtable event in Lagos to unfold his plans for the World Cup in Brazil.
However, NFF felt slighted by Keshi’s behaviour, insisting that the coach did not formally inform the federation of the meeting in Lagos.
Now, THISDAY sources have revealed, Keshi has been fired a query in which he was asked to explain within the next 48 hours why disciplinary measure should not be taken against him for failing to attend the technical committee meeting in Abuja.
According to sources, what irked the NFF leadership was Keshi’s excuse on why he would not be available for the meeting.
“The coach called the committee that he would not be available for the meeting because of changes in his flight schedule from America. For this reason, the committee cancelled the meeting but the football house was surprised the following day to read Keshi’s comments at the TomTom event in the media, meaning that he arrived the country in good time but decided to ignore the ‘official’ assignment for a ‘personal’ event in Lagos,” revealed the source last night.
In the copy of the query issued by NFF’s Technical Director, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme, part of it read; “It has come to the attention of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with total dismay that you attended a function of TomTom on Tuesday 25th of March without the express permission of your employers, NFF.
“TomTom, one of our sponsors, did not also clear with NFF before they invited you as they have no direct dealings with you as a person or as an employee of the NFF.
“Furthermore, this happened on the day you were expected to appear before the NFF Technical Committee to discuss your programme of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The reason you gave for not attending the said meeting and for which you were excused was that you will returning to Nigeria on 26th March because of your flight schedule to Nigeria.
“Meanwhile, the Federation’s approval for your leave was to begin February 15th and end March 10th. By not heeding to the approved date, you have seriously violated the term of approved date.
“It is equally important to draw attention to previous actions whereby, you will travel out of Nigeria without express permission of NFF. Specifically, you traveled out of the country before the date President Goodluck Jonathan received the home-based Super Eagles on February 13th, causing a very serious embarrassment to the federation by your absence at this national event.
“For these reasons, therefore, the federation has no option as a responsible organisation than to issue you with this query to explain how these events unfolded the way they did,” the letter stated.
Although the coach could not be reached as at the time of this report, however in the course of the programme on Tuesday in Lagos, Keshi told the gathering that it will not be possible for him to be in Abuja and at the same time honour the corporate event that had three former captains of the Eagles and other gladiators in the sports industry.
This is not the first time that Keshi and NFF will be on war path. Shortly after Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations tournament in South Africa January last year against all expectations, Keshi resigned from the Eagles job but was persuaded to return through the intervention of former Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi.
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