Rohr salary crisis deepens as ministry abandons NFF

The sports ministry has refused to yield to pressure from the Nigeria Football Federation to help sort the payment of the Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr his three month’s salary out.

Rohr, who was heavily linked with the vacant Guinea job before he was snapped up by the NFF in August last year, has won the country’s three competitive matches since his employment.

NFF had promised that they would have no problems paying the national coach his entitlements because they had firms who had agreed to support them financially.

But the football federation have been struggling to pay the German manager after the anonymous sponsors pulled out of their deal with them over the leadership crisis that rocked the body last year.

Our correspondent learnt that the NFF approached the sports minister Solomon Dalung recently to help save the country from the embarrassment of not being able to pay Rohr.

But the ministry is reportedly owing a number of national coaches and the minister allegedly rebuffed the plea to help resolve Rohr’s salary issue.

It was learnt that Dalung reminded the NFF leadership that he told them before Rohr’s employment that the ministry was against the idea because of its financial implications.

The minister is said to be still unhappy with development.

It was learnt that the NFF had been unable to secure sponsorship to fund Rohr’s salary as the companies they approached baulked at the idea, citing the current economic recession in the country.

Meanwhile, the officials of the football house, which is in dire financial distress, have therefore intensified their search for sponsors to pay the former Niger coach before he starts complaining, according to our source.

Dalung’s Media Adviser Nneka Anibeze told our correspondent that the ministry was not in a position to help the NFF because of its own financial challenges.

She denied that the minister had abandoned the NFF to their fate, promising that the minister would intervene when funds are available to the ministry.

“The NFF should not be having problems paying the coach because they told the minister that they had secured sponsorship for his salary,” Anibeze told our correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday.

“Those saying that the minister has abandoned the NFF are not being fair on him (Dalung) because he told them that the ministry won’t be able to pay a foreign coach.”