A board member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Nse Essien says the federation won’t be able to pay the Super Eagles Head Coach Jose Peseiro his compensatory fees if he were to be relieved of his job.
The Portuguese coach has been under fire recently after his team drew consecutive games against Lesotho on Thursday and Zimbabwe a few days later in Group C World Cup qualifiers.
Many Nigerian football fans expected the Super Eagles to breeze through the group, but the teams ranked 151st and 125th took the lead in their match before a late rally from the 40th-ranked nation.
Speaking in a post-match interview, Essien detailed that he wasn’t oblivious to the calls for Peseiro’s sack but the NFF were limited by monetary constraints
“If you check the internet almost everyone is asking for the sack of the head coach. It is unfortunate that out of six points, we have just two and we have found ourselves in a precarious situation.
“When you say NFF should sack the Head coach we didn’t employ him, this regime didn’t employ him when you come to look at it it was the Sports Ministry that employed him,” he said after the draw against Zimbabwe.
In September, the 63-year-old had his stay on the job extended after a renegotiated pay of $50,000 contract from $70,000 was reached
But Essien revealed that Peseiro had not been paid his salary and they have no other choice than to respect his contract.
“Up till now, we were supposed to have paid their salaries, up till now they have not paid a dime,” he said.
“Who pays for compensation that is the situation we find ourselves in not a dime has been paid to this coach who earns about $70,000 every month.
“We have to respect Jose Peseiro’s contract. If we had the money to give to him (pay him off) we are going to relieve him. We are not happy.”