President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick’d rather consent to a new contract than hold out for improved terms, “were he Stephen Keshi”.
Pinnick has described the new contract handed out to the 53-year-old as an all-inclusive offer designed to cater to the needs of both parties and, as well took into cognizance the broader vision of the football fraternity.
“Nobody arm-twisted us to hand a contract to Stephen Keshi,” the NFF chief said. “We took our time to put the contract together.”
Keshi had raised concerns over several clauses in a new two-year deal handed out to him by the NFF, describing it as a “slave contract”.
A meeting has been scheduled to hold between the coach’s representatives and the NFF on Wednesday, but Pinnick insists there is not string attached to the NFF offer.
“We made sure that it went through all the department to ensure that nothing is left out and to avoid any form of litigation. We tailored the contract with the global best practices,” Pinnick explained. “The contract covers everybody, the NFF and even the coach.
“Keshi has done a lot for the country, he may have made his mistakes but he ensured that local players competed for places in the team.
“We expect him to either say yes or no to the contract, but if I were Keshi, I would accept the contract.”
In the meantime, Mali are the latest country to inquire about the services of their former coach, after they sacked Frenchman Henryk Kasperczak.
FEMAFOOT confirmed on Monday that Kasperczak’s contract will not be renewed.
Local media has tipped the ex-Nigeria international as one of the leading candidates for the Mali job, about five years since leaving the post after a two-year spell.
Other frontrunners include Frenchman Alain Giresse and Patrice Carteron, who handled the Eagles at the 2013 Afcon in South Africa.
The Malian FA said they will announce a new coach on March 25.
