The NFF are only being cautious on the decision not to extend the contract of Jose Peseiro as Super Eagles coach because they fear the matter may be dragged to FIFA by the Portuguese coach.
The decision not to continue with Peseiro has been taken by the NFF Executive Committee and the football federation only now want to follow due process before an official announcement is made to that effect.
The only item on the agenda of Friday’s virtual meeting of the NFF Executive Committee was the Peseiro situation.
NFF president Ibrahim Gusau made this clear in his reaction to the Peseiro sack story when he maintained that the board is awaiting the recommendation of the yet-to-be-inaugurated technical sub-committee on the Super Eagles coach.
Peseiro’s representatives have made their position known that they will seek the intervention of the world football governing body after negotiations over a new contract collapsed.
They have argued that the coach is not responsible for the delay of the 2023 AFCON on which his first contract was based and as a result the initial agreement should subsist till the tournament is staged in January 2024.
The continuation of the original contract would also mean Peseiro maintains his $70,000-a-month salary, which the NFF said they could no longer afford.
Another Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, had to be paid off by the NFF following the intervention of FIFA last year.