‘Give me my Money now’ – Siasia Tells NFF

After the bronze medal-winning display of the National U23 team, head coach Samson Siasia has stated that his job with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is done as his contract ended at the Rio games.

This corroborates a statement by an official of the NFF that they are not expecting any letter of resignation from the coach, stating that he was free to move on.

“But if you are asking about getting any letter, we have not received any and we don’t expect any. The usual deal is with the All Africa Games and then running through the Olympics and that is what he has completed. There is no immediate U23 competition and so he couldn’t have continued,” he said.

However, in an interview with Punch, Siasia said he would like all his outstanding salaries and allowances cleared as he needed the money “now more than ever”.

“This is not really resignation; my contract was arranged to end with the Olympics. And so the contract has ended,” the former Eagles coach said.

“What is very important is that I get every kobo that I am owed. I need the money now than ever and I believe I have really endured and I have been cooperative.”

He further hinted that rumours of his resignation that made the headlines over the weekend were not completely baseless as an interview he granted that may have been misconstrued.

“I spoke with a reporter but I guess the one who are referring to was extracted from the interview I granted somebody else. What I was asked was my entire story at the Olympics and this included Atlanta camping.

“Of course, a lot of things happened that I can’t be really happy about especially the way the team was portrayed. But that is over as my contract has also actually ended. What is left now is my cash and that is very, very important,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Glass House official opined that the coach and his players were given the best possible treatment under the situation at the time.