Sports
Rohr Expresses Excitement Over FIFA Verdict
Franco-German Gernot Rohr has expressed satisfaction over FIFA’s verdict, following his battle with the Nigeria Football Federation, after he was sacked last December.
Former Super Eagles Coach, Rohr’s contract should have expired next December but an underwhelming performance by the national team had the ex-Bordeaux manager shown the exit door with just a month to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The aggrieved coach took the case to FIFA, demanding an additional £1m for breach of contract “without just cause,” despite an agreement to pay his salary until the end of his contract.
Football governing body FIFA on Monday ordered the NFF to pay Rohr $377,879.46 (N157m) after a tribunal decided his claim was “partially accepted insofar as it is admissible.”
The ruling by the FIFA players’ status chamber added that the NFF would be sanctioned if Rohr was not paid in full within 45 days.
Reacting to the decision, Amaju Pinnick told Tidesports source that the federation had paid Rohr some money before the termination of his contract.
“That’s not the true position,” Pinnick said of the ruling.
“FIFA declined most of his (Rohr’s) requests and said we should pay him $377,879.46 because we had paid him six months in lieu.
“We are still debating whether to go to CAS and tell them to convert that money we paid him to what FIFA wants us to pay him.”
However, speaking with Tidesports source from his base in France, Rohr, Eagles’ longest-serving coach, expressed satisfaction with the FIFA ruling.
“I am very okay with this (FIFA’s) decision because NFF paid already the outstanding salaries until May,” Rohr confirmed.
“For me, the money is not the most important; it’s the breach of contract without just cause.”
Rohr has been without a job since parting ways with Nigeria five months ago.
However, speaking with Tidesports source from his base in France, Rohr, Eagles’ longest-serving coach, expressed satisfaction with the FIFA ruling.
“I am very okay with this (FIFA’s) decision because NFF paid already the outstanding salaries until May,” Rohr confirmed.
“For me, the money is not the most important; it’s the breach of contract without just cause.”
Rohr has been without a job since parting ways with Nigeria five months ago.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.