Tuesday, December 01, 2009              

Senate insists on foreign coach for Eagles, to probe LOC
From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja

THE Senate Committee on Sports yesterday insisted that the Super Eagles would require the services of a sound foreign technical adviser if the team would perform to the admiration of Nigerians at both the Angola 2010 Africa Nations Cup and South Africa 2010 World Cup.

A member of the committee, Sen. Joel Danlami, told journalists in Abuja yesterday that the Senate respected the views of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on the issue of technical adviser for the team, adding, however, that there was still need to bring in a sound technical adviser for the team if the country were to do well in the two forthcoming tourneys.

The former chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Sports argued that countries such as England and South Africa, which hired foreign coaches for their national teams, wanted to ensure that their teams were not disgraced in the World Cup. Danlami said: "If really we want to make an impact in both Angola and South Africa, I still believe there is an urgent need for the NFF to get a sound technical adviser for the Super Eagles."

He revealed that the Senate Committee on Sports would soon summon the National Sports Commission (NSC) over the foreign coach saga, adding that Amodu "can as well work with a technical adviser since we want a good performance at the two championships."

According to him, since it is taxpayers' money that would be used to prosecute the World Cup, Nigerians deserve a good performance from the team hence they have the right to demand for a good coach."

Meanwhile, despite the involvement of the State Security Services (SSS), the Senate Committee on Sports has concluded plans to probe the activities of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the just concluded Nigeria 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Senator Danlami said that the Senate would soon name a committee to probe the LOC as part of its oversight functions, adding that since the Senate was at the forefront of ensuring that Nigeria did not lose the hosting right, it would also ensure that the LOC members told Nigerians how public money was spent on the championship.