NFF Promises Full Support To Siasia Ahead Egypt Tie

The Nigeria Football Federation will give Samson Siasia, the Super Eagles’ interim coach, all the necessary support to defeat Egypt later this month, an official said on Friday in Abuja.

Mohammed Sanusi, the NFF General Secretary, told the News Agency of Nigeria the support would come in financial terms and boosting of morale.

The Eagles are taking on the Pharaohs of Egypt on March 25 in Kaduna and on March 29 in Alexandria in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches.But Siasia, who was named interim coach on February 26, had on Thursday while unveiling the list of invited 42 players for the matches asked for a favour.He had urged the League Management Company to shift the 2015/2016 Nigeria Professional Football League midweek matches scheduled for this month.This, he said, was to enable the invited home-based players concentrate on preparation for the matches.However, Sanusi said the NFF would liaise with the LMC to ensure nothing, including the NPFL timetable, affects the concentration of the invited home-based players.

He said: “As I am talking to you, I have not heard anything like that, because I travelled outside Abuja.“But we (NFF) will support him very well.“I have always said we (NFF) will do everything possible for him to make sure the team succeedsOn the latest FIFA ranking released on Thursday, which placed Nigeria 62nd and 11th in the world and Africa respectively, Sanusi said FIFA was working towards restructuring the ranking method.He said: “We are happy that we are improving in the ranking and by the grace of God we will continue to improve because Rome was not built in a day.“But some football stakeholders who spoke in Zurich, Switzerland during the FIFA extraordinary congress have called for a review of the ranking procedure.“However, I must say that we are happy there is improvement.”

Sanusi said he was in support of reviewing the ranking procedure.

He added that time had come for countries, which were a force to reckon with in football, to take their rightful position in the ranking.“I share that idea too because one begins to wonder why countries which do very well in football and also conquer their continents trail behind the ones which are not a force to reckon with in their continents,” the NFF official said.Meanwhile, Coach Siasia has told NAN that he had made an official request for the NPFL midweek matches to be shelved this month to give the invited home-based players time to prepare for Egypt.

The coach said he made his submission through the office of the National Technical Director, Shuaibu Amodu.“The office is supposed to send the letter to the General Secretary for approval. If the midweek matches are not shelved, it will affect our preparations for the match,” he said.

NAN.