BY Remi Sulola
Samson Siasia, Olympic Bronze medal-winning coach, says he is “done” working for Nigeria.
Lamenting the poor attitude of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and the ministry of sports during the games in Rio, Siasia said that since arriving from Rio, no staff of the ministry has contacted the team.
“My next step is that I am done with Nigeria for now,” he told Vanguard.
“You can’t keep going to a place where they don’t appreciate you. It does not worth it. Sometimes it is not about the money but the approach.
“They seem not to appreciate the sacrifices. I know how much I have sacrificed since the team began camping two years ago. How can you keep going to people who don’t appreciate you?
“It does not make sense, so I am done for now. I have to go somewhere else where they will appreciate what I have done and what I can do and pay me the respect that I deserve.”
Siasia also revealed that the NFF had taken the car that was given to him.
“Even before I returned from the Olympics, the only car they gave me, they took it away from my wife. That is just awesome.
“That is not how to treat someone who was out there seeking glory for the nation. Let them eat their national team.”
Siasia took the Under-20 team to the finals of both the 2005 U20 World Cup and the U-20 African Youth Championship.
He won the African Youth Championship and advanced all the way to the world final, before losing to Argentina 2–1.
He also assisted Augustine Eguavoen in coaching the national team.
Appointed national U-23 coach in January 2007, he coached the team to the Olympics final in 2008, losing to Argentina to secure silver.
Earlier in 2008, the U-23 team won the inaugural Intercontinental Cup in Malaysia, with players selected from the domestic league defeating many teams headed for the 2008 summer Olympic games.
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