The Sun News On-line

Few weeks after Shaibu Amodu was appointed Super Eagles’ chief coach, another controversy is in the offing following revelations that there were some underhanded activities before the former BCC Lions of Gboko eventually secured the plum job.

The chubby tactician was interviewed by the Nigeria Football Association (NFA)’s Technical Committee alongside other local coaches after Berti Vogts was shown the way out in the wake of Eagles’ scandalous campaign at the Ghana 2008 Nations Cup. But Sunday Oliseh’s elder brother, Churchill Oliseh, told Sunday Sunsport in an exclusive interview in Abeokuta that the best candidate was not employed to handle the Eagles.

Churchill alleged that the only reason his younger brother did not get the job was because he refused to ‘play ball’ with the NFA board members, who conducted the interview for the coaching job.
"Sunday was not given the job because of many factors that had nothing to do with his ability to deliver. In this country, we are used to licking people’s boots to get into positions, but Sunday would not stoop low to get anything he wanted because he does not compromise standards.
"If you are looking for a man who knows what Nigerian football deserves at the moment, then that man is Sunday Oliseh. Sunday has done so much beyond what is expected of any single individual for the national team.

"Everything he told the NFA board members, who interviewed coaches for the Eagles’ job was really in the interest of Nigerian football, but I think a lot of people at the NFA don’t put the country first when it comes to moving our football forward.
"Sunday was not willing to bend his standards during the interview and that was why the NFA did not appoint him as the Eagles’ chief coach. If he had bent a bit, he would have been the coach today. Ask the NFA to publish the results of the interview and you will understand what I’m talking about." Excerpts:

How would you describe this season for FC Ebedei?
Honestly, we may not have gained promotion to the Premier League, but I am excited that we have achieved our set target for the season, which is to produce a number of talented players for some top clubs in Europe. We have successfully entered into contractual agreement with a top club in Europe, who have agreed to engage the services of seven of our players. Based on this alone, I think we have done well.

In terms of our position on the league table, we really performed beyond our expectations when you consider the fraudulent nature in which our league is organised. We thank God that at least, we would not get relegated to the amateur division at the end of the season.

You’ve been in football for quite a long while, first as FIFA-licensed footballers’ agent and now, a club owner. With your experience thus far, what would you say is the problem with Nigerian football as it appears we have not been getting it right all this while?

What our administrators have fail to realise is that whatever wrong step they take now may not have an immediate consequence. It may take some years before the negative outcomes will begin to manifest. The anomally we are experiencing now could lead to the collapse of Nigerian football in the next five years. I think those running the league currently, given this scenario, should apologise to those that ran it before now. What is going on in our football at the moment is regrettable. I’m ashamed to be part of this level of football organisation.

How do you see the appointment of Amodu Shaiub as Super Eagles’ coach ahead of your younger brother, Sunday Oliseh who also applied for the job?
The question we have to ask ourselves is; what has the government done to those who appointed Berti Vogts? My position is that any coach and Nigeria Football Association (NFA) board that fail to take our football beyond what we have attained before has failed. The irony is that those who are appointing coaches for Nigeria will never take any member of their family to half-baked doctors, yet they take delight in foisting quack coaches on us.

When Sunday was the captain of Super Eagles, he got himself involved in several squabbles with the NFA officials, and was unfortunately dubbed an arrogant player. Don’t you think that his past record would have contributed to his failure in getting the Eagles’ job?
When you lick people’s boots to get to a particular position, those who are not doing the same would be called arrogant people. What is arrogant about Sunday? My brother knows what he wants and he does not compromise his standards. If that were what you call arrogance, then I too would want to be an arrogant person. But if you are looking for a man who knows what Nigerian football deserves at the moment, then, that man is Sunday Oliseh. Sunday has done so much beyond what is expected of any single individual for the national team.

Did he tell you why he couldn’t get the job?
The conditions he gave the NFA were such that he was putting Nigerian football first, and I think a lot of people don’t think of Nigeria when it comes to football development. Everything Sunday told the NFA board members who interviewed the coaches for the job was really in the interest of our football. You really need people who have the interest of Nigeria at heart to understand what Sunday stood for during the interview, but unfortunately, he was not willing to bend his ways and that was what cost him the job. If he were willing to bend a bit, he would have been the Eagles’ coach today. Ask the NFA to publish the results of the interview and you will understand what I’m talking about.