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Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick has revealed exactly why Franco-German football tactician Gernot Rohr was relieved of his duties as Super Eagles coach four weeks before the start of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Super Eagles struggled at home in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, losing 1-0 to Central African Republic followed by a nervy 1-1 draw with nearest challengers Cape Verde last month.
A year ago, Sierra Leone produced a stunning comeback from 4-0 down to earn a draw with the three-time African champions in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Benin City.
Rohr has alleged that he has not been paid for months and even some of the Super Eagles players are not motivated because their allowances and bonuses have not been paid.
Pinnick has defended the Nigerian Federation by revealing that two major issues that led to the dismissal of Rohr were the indiscipline in the Super Eagles and the team's poor performance on the pitch over the last one year.
In an interview with Channels Television monitored by allnigeriasoccer.com , Pinnick stated "We didn't want to wait for a disaster to happen before parting ways.
"The last two games were very tough for us and we did our own intelligence based on what we knew or what was going on and you agree with me that even about five minutes to the end of the last game against Cape Verde they would have scored and Nigerian wouldn't have qualified for the last round or for the World Cup.
"It wasn't an individual decision, it was a collective decision by the entire Executive Committee. We got reports from the Technical and Strategic Committees and we put all these things together.
"It wasn't an individual decision, it was a collective decision by the entire Executive Committee. We got reports from the Technical and Strategic Committees and we put all these things together.
"We were winning our games, we were struggling, in Benin we were leading 4-0 and they came from behind, if they had gotten another five minutes perhaps we would have lost that game."
Pinnick continued : "He has been here for five years, we did everything that we did but one major factor was discipline in the team, he lost practically the dressing room.
Pinnick continued : "He has been here for five years, we did everything that we did but one major factor was discipline in the team, he lost practically the dressing room.
"Discipline in team was at its lowest ebb and once you remove discipline that foundation of the team, players will now talk about you, players will now believe that they are indisposable.
"A disaster was about to happen so we decided to take the bull by the horns."
"A disaster was about to happen so we decided to take the bull by the horns."
Appointed in August 2016 after stints with the national teams of Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso, the 68-year-old Rohr is considered the longest-serving Super Eagles coach.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
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