Sacked Super Eagles Coach Siasia Drags NFF To Court Over His Sack.

THE NFF executive board was thrown into confusion yesterday when the news broke out in Abuja that sacked Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, has dragged the board to an Abuja court following his dismissal as the national team coach.

Siasia, in a summon handed to the NFF Acting General Secretary, Musa Amadu, at about 12 p.m. yesterday, wants to know why he was relieved of his job when the federation could not fulfill their part of the contract he signed with it.


The former Heartland of Owerri coach, who called on the court to determine what the federation meant by him not fulfilling his own part of the contract by not qualifying the Super Eagles for Gabon/Equatorial Guinea 2012, said the NFF was owing him two months salary before his sack, adding that the federation also failed to pay his house rent for the period he was the national team coach, which, he said, was part of the federation’s responsibility as contained in the contract.

Confirming the court case yesterday, the former Super Eagles coach, who spoke on phone, said he decided to take the NFF to court because he believed that the federation, which had continuously blamed him for not fulfilling his own part of the contract, grossly failed in its duties to him as national team coach.

“They sacked me for not qualifying the team to the Nations Cup and I have no problem with that. But on their own side did they fulfill their own part of the contract we signed?

“As I talk to you right now, the federation is still owing my two months salary, they could not provide me with an accommodation, neither have they paid one kobo for my house rent since I became the Super Eagles coach, and all these were contained in the contract as their responsibility. So I have to seek a court order to compel them to pay me all my entitlements as well as to put the record straight,” Siasia stated.

When contacted on the matter, Amadu, who confirmed receipt of the court summon, said he would not comment on it because he had not briefed the board officially on it.

Also speaking on the court case, a FIFA licensed agent, Emmanuel Babatunde Omijeh, disclosed that Siasia has not received any letter to indicate the NFF has sacked him.

Omijeh, who is said to be Siasia’s agent, argued that “even if the NFF is planning to dispense with the services of the coach, the contract made adequate provisions on how that can be done, and not through the media. For now, Siasia was only sacked in the media, there is no letter to that effect from the NFF.”

“My client and his team have only heard and read so much noise in the media claiming that the coach was sacked for not meeting up with the target given to him to qualify the nation for the Nations Cup and get to the semi-final of the competition.

“But the FA has forgotten so soon that there are several aspects of the contract that they contravened,” he said, adding that the contract explicitly stated that in the event of termination of the contract, each party must be given a notice of 30 days, which, he argued, the NFF did not do.

“As far as we are concerned, Samson Siasia is still technically the coach of the Super Eagles as he has not been notified of his sack through any letter and because he has not been notified officially by the NFF we want to believe that it is just the handiwork of the press.”

“We also appeal to the NFF to please correct the news making the rounds in the press of his sack as it does not speak well of the agreement Siasia had with them. If they want to sack him they know the processes to follow to accomplish that and not through the pages of the newspapers, television screens and radio.”

Emmanuel Omijeh maintained that should the NFF not correct the news that is going on in the media, they would not hesitate to take further action with regard to taking the case to FIFA with a view to critically assessing the terms of the contract.


source the guardian newspaper