President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick says Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr will not be sacked by the Federation after the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Many Nigerian football fans have called for the sack of the German coach after Sunday’s 1-2 defeat to Algeria in the AFCON semifinal game in Cairo but Pinnick insists he will remain in the job.
“Gernot Rohr will not be sacked as Super Eagles coach. He will remain in the job. I have complete confidence in him,” Pinnick told @osasuo on Monday night.
“Gernot has taken us to the semi-final, the target we set for him. Right now, we have a third-place match to play for and we intend to have our team leave Egypt with honours,” he added.
Pinnick, who is also the 1st Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) acknowledged that there were issues among them during Rohr’s three years in charge of the team but they must move beyond that.
“We have had rocky and difficult moments in our relationship, but this is normal in any relationship between two people.
“He is a good coach and we want him to remain with us. That said, we will work together on what needs to be improved upon.
“There are some people that have been calling on me and the Federation to sack Gernot. But I am not going to do that.
“In fact, Gernot is going on a refresher training period with Bayern Munich after the AFCON tournament. We have a long-term plan with him.”
Rohr will be speaking with the media in Cairo at about 12:00pm Nigerian time on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s third place match against Tunisia at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo.
Fisayo Dairo reporting from Cairo
