Stephen Keshi will not be the replacement
for Herve Renard as Ivory Coast coach, the Super Eagles coach’s agent
Emmanuel Ado has said.
Keshi was named as 20th in a list of 59
coaches who applied for the Elephants job by the Fédération Ivoirienne
de Football last week. But Ado says Keshi is committed to seeing through
his two-year contract, which he signed with the Nigeria Football
Federation in April.
Keshi is one of two Africans on the list. The other is Ivoirian Yelato Silue.
Renard left the reigning African
champions for Ligue 1 side, Lille, last month, and Ivory Coast have yet
to get a substantive coach.
Ado described the reports on the published list as distractions for Keshi, insisting they were by “enemies of peace”.
“My client is very happy with his job as
Head Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria. He has a two-year contract
with the Nigeria Football Federation. As a professional, he will see out
his contract,” Ado wrote on his Facebook wall.
“My client feels highly honoured to be
shortlisted by Ivory Coast – a great footballing country. Like you all
know, he has a very good relationship with Ivory Coast since his playing
days. It is a relationship that he cherishes and will continue to
cherish all the days of his life.
“We want to use this opportunity to call
on all stakeholders, and indeed all Nigerians, to deny enemies of peace
the chance they are looking for to cause distractions. We don’t need
these distractions.”
But while the FIF said on its website
that only coaches who applied for the post were named, Ado could not
clarify if Keshi applied for the job or not.
Meanwhile, the NFF has said it will investigate if Keshi actually applied for the job.
“The NFF will open a full investigation
to determine whether Mr. Stephen Keshi actually applied for the vacant
Ivory Coast job,” NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire told BBC Sport.
“There will be no hasty decision. We hope
to get a full part from the Ivory Coast football federation before
making an official statement.”
Keshi had a turbulent relationship with
the NFF before he was given a new contract in April. He failed to have
his contract renewed at the end of the 2014 World Cup, and was given a
match-by-match deal as Nigeria sought ticket for the 2015 Africa Cup of
Nations.
Source - Punch
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