Don't blame Stephen Keshi for super Eagles failure- Amos Adamu

Babalola Tomiwa

The former Director of the National Sports Commission, Dr. Amos Adamu has lashed out at the Nigeria Football Federation to stop portraying the out-of-contract manager, Stephen Keshi as a scapegoat for the Super Eagles failure to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations won by Ivory Coast at Equitorial Guinea.

Keshi won the 29th edition of the AFCON championship in South Africa, almost 20 years since they last won the same title in Tunisia in 1994.

The former CAF and FIFA member described Keshi as a Manager with ‘guts’ who was caught in the storm of crisis and plethora of court cases  which affected the Coaches, Players and eventually Nigeria football adversely.

"Keshi has proven that he’s a Coach that has guts and we should not forget that by the time we were preparing for the Nations cup we did not have an FA, not with the FIFA ban looming and we were continuously entangled in one court case or another which had an adverse effect on the Coaches and players likewise, so no one should use our failure to qualify for the AFCON as an excuse, because we all know there was a fundamental problem.

"Some people feel Keshi is very rude and is unruly to the Federation but we must understand that Champions don’t cower, they don’t behave like ‘nobodies’ and Keshi has proven he’s a Coach to reckon with on the continent,” Adamu told footballlive

Adamu explained that the team was affected by the FIFA ban caused by the Nigerian FA's numerous problems as at the time the Eagles were preparing for the tournament.