Following the recent appointment of Èric Seykou Chelle as the coach of the Super Eagles and the observed public opinion it is generating, Sport Integrity Foundation known as Integrity Group has called for calm and focus by all Nigerians.
The Group made the call in a statement issued on Thursday via its Secretary, Godwin Dele, noting that investigation revealed that due process was followed in the conduct leading to the announcement.
According to the Group expertise and recommendation of the technical department was followed by inputs of the technical sub-committee and ratification by the board of the NFF.
“We discovered that Tactical Sagacity and Economic Viability was priotised by the NFF before deciding on the coach.
“Considering the early yearnings of the public that the NFF appiont a substantive coach before returning for the world cup qualifiers in March, the decision to hire Èric Chelle was done in the best interest of Nigerian football”, it said.
The Integrity Group urged Nigerians not to be discriminative of the Franco-malian as this will be against the ethos of sporting integrity and global practicability of sports.
“We also noticed that Chelle belongs in the Golden Age of African football, where former African internationals between Age 40-48 are dominating football on the continent, winning AFCON titles and qualifying African national teams for the World Cup”, it added.
Recall that, the appointment of the 47-year-old UEFA Pro Licenced Franco-Malian Èric Seykou Chelle as the coach of Nigeria’s senior male national team, (Super Eagles), has become the talk of the town among football loving Nigerians with many vehemently criticising NFF’s decision, while others saw it as a game-changer that could return the Super Eagles to the winning spirit.
