NFF should take glory for Rio Olympics bronze —Adamu

Former Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr Amos Adamu, has called on the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF), to take full responsibility for the bronze medal outing of the Team Nigeria to the Rio Olympics 2016.

Adamu noted that, the NFF under the leadership of Amaju Pinnick took a vital decision in sending the Dream Team VI to Atlanta, USA for intensive camping. Even when the minister denied the presence of the team in Atlanta, the NFF continued with the camping exercise. It was this persistence that eventually earned Team Nigeria the only medal at the Rio Olympics.

“The truth of the matter is that, if Amaju had waited like the other sports federations’ president for the Sports Ministry’s funds which came two weeks to the Rio Games, to commence serious camping for the Games, the Olympic soccer team wouldn’t have been well prepared to win bronze.

“It is imperative that the NFF should stand firm to take the glory for helping Nigeria not to return empty-handed from the Rio Olympics just as it was the case at the London 2012 Games.

“As little as the bronze medal looks, it is better than nothing. I want to commend the leadership of the NFF for its visionary decision. This will also help the career of the players and officials who are today proud winners of an Olympic medal. I am in sports and I know how difficult it is to win a medal in the Olympics,” he said.

The former FIFA and CAF executive committee member also denied report attributed to him, where he was quoted to have said that the Eagles is doomed following the employment of Gernot Rohr as technical adviser of the national team.

“Why on earth would I say the Super Eagles is doomed, I never said that. In the interview I granted a reporter who asked me my opinion about the new Eagles Technical Adviser, I said that the coach is not well known to me and it will be difficult to say anything about his capabilities. I made it clear that it is my policy not to differentiate between foreign or indigenous coach, the most important thing is for whoever is employed as Eagles coach to perform.”