Former Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, says he stood his grounds when officials of the Nigeria Football Federation tried to influence his squad selection.
The NFF on Sunday terminated the contract of the Franco-German after five years with the three-time Africa Cup of Nations champions, just few weeks to the AFCON in Cameroon next year.
There have been complaints from fans over the performance of the team in recent games after poor performances that led to a loss against the Central African Republic and a draw against Cape Verde at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in October and November respectively in their 2022 World Cup group phase qualifying match.
But Rohr, after his sack, alleged that some officials tried to influence his decision to call players for national team assignment when he on several occasions rejected.
“I know Nigerians are passionate about football and everyone has their own favourites and I understand that everybody wants to see some players and we discussed it,” Rohr said in an interview monitored by our correspondent on Twitter anchored by ESPN journalist Colin Udoh.
“Perhaps I didn’t follow some of the suggestions and the advice of the officials; that is possible because I wanted to make the choice (selections) with my technical staff and not with people from outside the team.”
When asked if officials suggested players to him for consideration, Rohr said, “I had a lot of suggestions. I understand that officials want us to do well, everyone wants to bring in their advice and opinion but it was too much.”
