Pinnick: Rohr cannot choose venues for Eagles matches

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick has emphatically declared that Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr cannot continue to decide which stadium should host the team’s international home games.

Pinnick was speaking on a radio programme “Sports Zone” on Lagos-based Radio station Lagos Talks on Wednesday  where he was asked to respond to “some report” insinuating that the German head coach of the Super Eagles is not comfortable with the choice of Asaba for Nigeria’s friendly against Uganda later this month.

“Gernot Rohr is our employee, we have a good working relationship with him but he cannot determine where Nigeria will play. He doesn’t have that strength to do that.

“He doesn’t understand the dynamics of this country, we have a very wonderful relationship with him and like I said, he cannot determine where we play,” emphasised Pinnick

The Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State – the home state of Mr Pinnick – hosted the final of Nigeria’s Cup competition last month after it hosted the Africa Athletics Championships in August.

The stadium was touted to be in the race to host Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya last month but the game was held in Uyo after Gernot Rohr publicly pleaded with the NFF to give his team a good and big stadium. Pinnick insists Asaba is a good facility.

“His (Rohr’s) contract did not say he should determine where we want to play. There is nothing wrong in Asaba, fundamentally it is a brand new stadium, of course there are little issues but for the grass, I know where there are bad pitches and where there are good pitches.

“The pitch in Asaba right now is one of the best in the country, he should come out to say otherwise then I will agree with him,” adds the CAF 1st Vice President.

Nigeria will face Uganda in an international friendly at the Asaba Stadium on Tuesday, November 20, three days after the Super Eagles might have faced South Africa in Johannesburg in their penultimate match of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.