Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, has reacted to news
making the rounds that he rejected the accommodation given to him by the Nigeria Football Federation for his stay in Nigeria.
Rohr, who managed the senior national team for the first time in a 1-0 home win against Tanzania earlier this month, expressed displeasure at the way people were using his openness and easy accessibility to quote him out of context and attempt to derail him from the core assignment he has at hand.
“I never rejected any apartment,” he said. “I might have spoken to a
few people who I believed to be genuinely interested in me, saying
that the apartment was very big and I joked that I might get lost
inside it when I start to live there, but I never rejected it.
“When the Federation engaged me, and told me I had to live in Nigeria, I agreed to it because I believed that my base has to be in the
country where I work. I did the same in Niger, Burkina Faso and Gabon, and I do not see it any differently in Nigeria,” Rohr added in a
statement.
The Franco-German stated further, “The Federation moved to rent an apartment for me, and this is a good gesture that shows their
commitment. If I have issues with it, it should be done directly
through the Federation and not on the pages of the media.”
Rohr decried the habit of people trying to get close and then twisting
his comments in order to make press news, and cautioned that it would not augur well for media relations if he has to close up in fear of being misquoted.
