Former Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick, has rejected claims that his administration contributed to the decline of late Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi, insisting that he has nothing to apologise to the former Nigeria captain for.
Pinnick spoke in the latest episode of “The Pinnick Tapes (REMASTERED): NFF Scandals EXposed,” published on former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh’s YouTube programme, Global Football Insights With Oliseh.
He was responding to a question on whether the relationship between the NFF and Keshi during the latter years of the coach’s tenure contributed to the decline of the Super Eagles after their 2013 Africa Cup of Nations triumph.
Keshi remains one of Nigeria’s most celebrated football figures. He led the country to AFCON glory in 2013 and guided the team to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, where Nigeria reached the Round of 16.
Asked what he would apologise to Keshi for if he had the opportunity to meet the late coach today, Pinnick rejected the suggestion.
“There’s no way I would have apologised to Keshi. Keshi, God rest his soul, he was an icon,” he said.
Pinnick maintained that his relationship with Keshi remained cordial despite disagreements over the national team.
“We had a very warm relationship until he passed, and when he passed, we were the first people that went,” he said.
He also denied that his administration deliberately worked against the coach, saying decisions concerning the Super Eagles were based on reports available to the federation.
“But there’s no way I would have apologised to Keshi because we didn’t do anything wrong. We did what we did based on report,” Pinnick added.
The comments revisit a turbulent period in Nigerian football when Keshi’s authority and relationship with the federation became subjects of intense public debate.
In 2015, the NFF announced that Keshi would work with its Technical Study Group and that the selection of players would no longer be entirely within the coach’s discretion.
The arrangement gave NFF Technical Director Shuaibu Amodu and a technical group a supervisory role, although Keshi retained input in selecting players.
The decision fuelled concerns among Keshi’s supporters, who argued that the federation was interfering with the coach’s technical responsibilities.
Keshi was eventually dismissed in July 2015, with the NFF subsequently appointing Sunday Oliseh as his replacement.
Oliseh, who interviewed Pinnick for the latest programme, recalled his own experience as Super Eagles coach and suggested that some of the institutional problems he encountered had also affected Keshi.
Pinnick, however, defended the administrative structure of his board, saying technical committees and other bodies were allowed to contribute to football decisions.
According to him, he gave the committees freedom to make recommendations provided their decisions were in the national interest.
The exchange has reopened debate about Keshi’s final years with the Super Eagles and the extent to which administrative tensions contributed to the team’s decline after its 2013 continental triumph.
Keshi died in 2016 at the age of 54, leaving behind a legacy that included AFCON titles as both a player and coach.
Pinnick’s latest comments make clear that, nearly a decade after Keshi’s death, he does not accept the argument that his NFF administration owes the late coach an apology.
