The Nigeria Football Federation would like to clarify a claim making the rounds about senior national team head coach Gernot Rohr where it is claimed that he launched an attack on the members of the media profession in Nigeria.
We have stepped in to this matter immediately and can assure the general public and members of the media that Mr Rohr has been quoted out of context.
The Super Eagles handler stated to us categorically that he never said all journalists were corrupt. He sent us a transcript of the interview he granted and nowhere in it was the word ‘corrupt’ used.
He did admit to stating that people who acted as agents put pressure on his crew on who to pick in the World Cup squad and also that the pages of the papers were awash with claims and counter claims but never did he state that the media had no right or that they were corrupt in their approach.
Gernot Rohr is in the middle of preparing for a big assignment – negotiating the World Cup in Russia (otherwise he would have responded personally) – and all we can enjoin Nigerians to do is get behind him and our Super Eagles team in seeing that we reach appreciable heights in this forthcoming World Cup tournament.
For almost two years now, Rohr has built a wonderful relationship with Nigeria – his players, his employers and we are sure that he is on amiable terms with the media.
We would like to encourage this camaraderie and try not to allow misquotes and wrongly perceived comments to derail what the federation is trying to achieve with him for our football.
The President of the NFF, Amaju Melvin Pinnick has added his voice, stating that ‘We believe in our media and we believe in the quality of what they do for our football. And having personally spoken repeatedly to Gernot Rohr, he has convinced us that he is on the same page with us on this drive’.
Are they not corrupt? Funny people
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