Keshi leads Eagles, Congo demand new venue

Barring any change in decision, Stephen Keshi will return as Nigeria coach for the September 6 Africa Nations Cup qualifier against Congo in Calabar.

Keshi, whose contract ended with the 2014 World Cup, said on a television interview monitored in Lagos that he was returning “on patriotic grounds.”

“I want to respect the wishes of Nigerians and the appeal by the sports minister to handle the team at least for the two games.

“The need to answer the patriotic call and respect the wishes of Nigerians informed my coming for the key games. We worked so hard to win the Nations Cup in South Africa, I think we should do all that we can to defend it in Morocco next year,” he added on AIT’s SportsExtra on Monday.

Only last week Keshi had said that he was moving on having got tired of waiting for the Nigeria Football Federation. He said he lost several opportunities while waiting for the NFF but was now pushing other available opening’s outside the country.

Keshi contract talk with the NFF has suffered delay due to the wrangling at the football governing body and the differences with the coach in the details of the proposed contract. The federation is offering to maintain the N5m-a-month deal they had with him during his first tenure while Keshi is reportedly asking for N15m to renew the contract. The PUNCH also learnt that Keshi wants just a year contract with the option to renew, while the NFF members want him sign a four-year deal.

Meanwhile, Congo, who replaced Rwanda for the match, have submitted a letter to the Confederation of African Football requesting for the relocation of their Group A opener of the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2015 qualifier against Nigeria, scheduled for in Calabar.

The ‘Diables Rouges’ are concerned with the recent Ebola outbreak in Nigeria.

“I think that would be difficult and risky to play in this area. As a matter of fact, neighbouring Cameroon have closed their borders,” Congo coach Claude Leroy explained in a report carried by Africanfootball.com.

The spread of the deadly virus in West Africa has already led CAF to ask for the relocation of Guinea versus Togo and Sierra-Leone versus DR Congo, while some question marks have been raised about Côte d’Ivoire versus Sierra Leone game.

Congo booked their spot in the qualifiers of the continental showpiece after the Rwandans were barred from taking part for fielding ineligible striker Dady Birori.