After a long contractual discussion, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, on Sunday announced that an agreement had been reached with Jose Peseiro to continue his role as the head coach of the country’s senior men’s national team.
The NFF announced the appointment of Peseiro as the new coach of the Super Eagles May 15, 2022, replacing Austin Eguavoen, who returned to his Technical Director role at the federation.
The Portuguese coach, who earned $70,000 per month, saw his one-year contract expire in June.
There was initial belief that there was nothing concrete between the NFF and the Eagles as regards talks for his contract renewal fuelling reports that the 63-year-old may bring an end to his reign as head coach of the Eagles.
Under the tutelage of the Portuguese, the Eagles have churned out underwhelming performances and have only won four of their nine games under the watch of the 67-year-old manager, losing the remaining five, with the side scoring 18 goals and conceding 13.
It was also under Peseiro that the Eagles recorded their worst run in 42 years as they lost three consecutive games, including a shock 1-0 defeat to minnows and 118th-ranked Guinea-Bissau in Abuja last March in a 2023 AFCON qualifier.
Concerns were raised as regards who leads the Eagles when they face São Tomé and Príncipe in their final game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Sunday, September 10.
Those concerns have however been put to bed after the country’s football governing body in a statement on Sunday announced that Peseiro had extended his contract until next year.
“The Nigeria Football Federation and Mr. Jose Santos Peseiro have reached an agreement for the latter to continue in his role as head coach of the senior men’s national team of Nigeria, Super Eagles,” the statement read.
“As stipulated in the original contract, drawn in May 2022, the Portuguese has been handed the mandate to lead the Super Eagles to, in the minimum, the semi-finals of the 34th Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast in a few months.
“He has now agreed to continue in the role after accepting a pay cut on his earlier terms, with the new agreement also putting him in charge of the Super Eagles B – the home-based professionals who contest the biennial African Nations Championship.”
A separate statement from the sports ministry stated that it took the intervention of the minister to bring an end to the Peseiro contract issue.
“Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh held a meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian Football Federation, on Saturday night to find solutions to the lingering issues surrounding the status of the contract with the Super Eagles Coach ahead of the last African Cup of Nations qualifying match.
“The minister’s team which included his Permanent Secretary and some Directors and that of the NFF led by the President, had very fruitful discussions.
“Importantly the meeting agreed to extend the expired contract with the Super Eagles Coach to the end of February,2024. The meeting was also briefed that the coach had agreed to a salary cut for the duration of the extended contract.”
