Sports Minister aborts the appointment of Belgian coach
After three months of uncertainty about the announcement of the appointment of Belgian, Tom Saintfiet as the new Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi on Wednesday ordered the termination of the appointment.
We all applaud the pronouncement, as the appointment had been roundly criticised for its many loopholes, including the set goals for the holder of the office. But the Aminu Maigari-led board of the NFF decided to turn a deaf ear to all the critics and the well rounded arguments and went ahead to install the 39-year old in the office.
One of the cardinal points for the appointment was grassroots development but that brought about the major crux of disagreement on the choice of the Belgian.
The question was why appoint someone who does not know the football terrain in Nigeria or isn’t at least familiar to the challenges that he is going to face on the job?
Yes, the deed has now been done but we should be mindful of the autocratic nature of the order. Is it right that the Minister has ordered the termination on the grounds that he did not like the appointment and had advised otherwise? And because he did not agree with the appointment, did it make the appointment wrong?
There are so many questions that beg answers, and another is – will this be the template of the future relationship between the minister and the NFF; a master-servant relationship?
But for Saintfiet, while not disparaging his person or his credentials, I think he does not have the requisite know-how to perform at the post he was chosen for. For someone who has been a journeyman, for lack of a better word, the Nigerian appointment was ill-advised even though he did not choose himself.
Now it is left to Maigari and his board to find a competent Nigerian to work in that office and they should not lack choices. From Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George to a host of others, they should be able to find one who will still be funded from the coffers of FIFA!
Jide, formerly a professional footballer, is now a sports writer.
