Former Nigerian goalkeeper Emmanuel Babayaro has voiced his support for Daniel Amokachi’s decision to reject the opportunity to work alongside Finidi George as an assistant coach, as reported by Soccernet.ng.
Babayaro, who enjoyed most of his playing career with Plateau United, shared the Olympic gold medal victory with Amokachi as part of the Nigerian team in Atlanta in 1996.
Following Finidi George’s appointment as the head coach of the three-time CAF winners, Amokachi was expected to join as part of the coaching staff to assist the former Ajax winger as he leads a new era with the Super Eagles.
According to ScoreNigeria, Amokachi opted out of the deal with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) due to discrepancies in financial expectations. Additionally, the terms stipulated that Amokachi would only participate in Super Eagles engagements at Finidi’s discretion.
“Amokachi was appointed Super Eagles assistant coach under these conditions – No salary and his appearance in any Super Eagles engagement is on a needs basis and subject to the head coach’s discretion. How demeaning can these conditions be? Amokachi said yes to the appointment as the Super Eagles assistant coach but an emphatic no to the demeaning conditions attached to it, and yes, the conditions were only just communicated recently,” Babayaro stated in quotes revealed by Score Nigeria.
This decision implies that the Super Eagles will temporarily operate without Amokachi’s expertise until a compromise is reached between his camp and the NFF. Otherwise, both parties will move forward independently.
