BY JACOB AJOM
First Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Chief Mike Umeh has expressed fear that the lingering crisis in Nigerian football, occasioned by the purported sack threat on Super Eagles head coach, Stephen Keshi  might linger on longer than expected and  could jeopadise Nigeria’s World Cup qualification chances if not properly handled.

In a bid to find a permanent solution to the crisis, Chief Umeh has thrown a challenge to Coach Stephen Keshi to mention the two overbearing members of the executive committee of the NFF that he said prompted his decision to attempt to throw in the towel after the tournament.

Stephen Keshi

 “I challenge Keshi to name those two members of the EXCO so that this matter will be settled once and for all. We are fourteen on the board and Keshi said two members wanted him sacked. I can’t see how two members of the board can engineer a coach’s sack without the support of others. He should name them,” Umeh said .

The NFF chieftain said he felt scandalised as a member of the board as the coach’s media interview did not clarify who the members were.

Asked if Keshi would be invited by the board to explain his interview with the media, Umeh said, “we don’t need to invite him. He should go to the same media and name the two board members. That will clear the air once and for all.”

We still have very important assignments, like qualifying for the World Cup, we should put all this crisis behind us and face the challenges ahead.”

Umeh said for opening up to the media,  in an interview, which Keshi  said his decision to resign his appointment after the Nations Cup was prompted by the overbearing nature of two members of the Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation who had wanted him sacked, even before the Nations Cup.

In a widely reported interview with cable network, Super Sports on Monday, Stephen Keshi said

“I know for sure the (sack) letter was there, the letter was waiting before Nations Cup after we won 6-1 against Liberia in Calabar, And those two members were the main problem in South Africa.,” Keshi said on the live television programme.

Keshi exonerated the NFF President, Aminu Maigari, “It wasn’t from my president, not from the board of the federation, but from one or two other people.