Former Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr reportedly told the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) that they were to pay him with interest for violating the football’s world governing body, FIFA’s 45-day ultimatum.
The NFF’s contract with Gernot Rohr still had about a year more to go before it was terminated. Rohr claimed that the NFF breached the contract agreement by sacking him on short notice.
The German coach took up the case to FIFA for NFF’s breach of contract and reportedly demanded around £1 million from NFF as compensation. The governing body, FIFA ruled that the sum of $377,879.46 be paid to the 69-year-old coach instead.
FIFA in May gave NFF 45 days to pay up the sum to Gernot Rohr. The body stated that “If full payment [including all applicable interest] is not made within 45 days of notification of this decision, the respondent [the NFF] shall be restricted from receiving a percentage of development funding, up until the due amounts are paid.”
Well, it is over 45 days now and the NFF hasn’t paid Rohr the sum that they were supposed to pay. The German coach demands to be paid with interest at the current dollar rate.
Note that Gernot Rohr was fired last year December and the naira has since then dropped when compared to the dollar. This means that the NFF would pay Rohr much more than they would have paid if they had complied with FIFA’s directives. With the current dollar rate, NFF now owes Gernot Rohr about N157 million from N155 million based on the dollar rate in December 2021.
Rohr said: “Since the FIFA judgment, they [NFF] didn’t pay anything. FIFA paid me a part of the sum they owe me and that is normally [from] a part of the development budget they pay to African federations.
“My lawyer reminded them, Fifa and NFF, that interests have to be paid. The dollar amount will grow with time and this is the law.”
The ex-Super Eagles’ coach, Rohr who has been the head coach for 5 years was fired on December 12, 2021. When the Super Eagles’ was under his control, he ensured that Nigeria qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with a game left, which made Nigeria the first African nation to qualify for the 2018 edition of the tournament. He also claimed the bronze at his first AFCON tournament.
These were some of the exploits the Super Eagles enjoyed when he was the head coach aside from addressing several of the team’s problems.
The NFF claimed that one of the reasons why he was sacked was because of the poor performance of the Super Eagles. The Eagles failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Still, despite the NFF’s failure to meet the 45-day deadline given by the football’s governing body, FIFA, has decided not to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
