Former Nigerian international, Victor Ikpeba has said that Coach Finidi George was always on the list for the super eagles job. Ikpeba, a member of the technical committee emphasized that the deliberation never had a three man shortlist, but about five names made the final set. He added that final three list that circulated was just a media push, and it was never true situation.
“Let me clarify it, because that is the social media and the media three-man list. I can tell you that in the three-man list, Finidi George’s name was there, Amokachi’s name was there and a foreign manager’s name was there and even Amuneke’s name was there. It was just not three, it was about four or five. So those speculations saying that his name was not there, he was the number one in the list”, said Ikpeba.
He then went farther that Finidi was top because the decision had been made to go for a local coach. He highlighted that social media plays a strong role in today’s world, and that was why the speculations seemed true at the time.
“I want to clarify it. He was number one on the list. He has always been number one in the list when we decided to have a Nigerian coach. But we all know what the media role played because of the self-interest, the social media, not having the facts. They don’t have the facts, they’re just writing. Finidi George, i want to confirm he has always been in the list”, the 50 year old said.