Former Super Eagles head coach Sunday Oliseh has rejected claims that he abandoned Nigeria’s national team in 2016, saying he resigned because of serious health challenges and unpaid salaries.
Oliseh, who was appointed head coach of the Super Eagles in 2015, left the position in 2016 after nearly a year in charge.
Reports following his resignation claimed that he abandoned the team despite recording 14 wins and only two defeats.
However, speaking during a recent interview on The Play Zone, the former Nigeria captain disputed that account, alleging that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) owed him four months’ salary and his assistant coach six months’ wages when he resigned.
“I didn’t abandon the Super Eagles. I coached the Super Eagles for almost a year. The day I resigned, you guys [NFF] were owing me four months’ salary. My assistant coach, you were owing him six months’ salary,” Oliseh said.
He also revealed that he had been seriously ill and spent thousands of euros on treatment at a hospital in Munich, Germany.
“And I was sick as hell. And I have spent thousands of euros to cure myself at the Munich hospital that costs me over 12 thousand euro,” he said.
Oliseh said medical examinations later revealed that he had contracted mumps while in Nigeria, adding that the illness affected his eyesight, nose and ears.
“It was there they found out, with an intensive blood search, that I had contracted mumps in Nigeria. And they told me it must have come from handshakes. That thing was affecting my eyesight, my nose, my ear,” he said.
The former coach maintained that he had been committed to serving the country and improving the team’s results during his tenure.
“You see, those were the things I looked at. Look, I am serving my country like hell; we are doing well, we’re winning matches. The Press were doing everything to sabotage the team,” he added.
Oliseh’s latest comments offer his account of the circumstances surrounding his departure from the Super Eagles, citing unpaid wages and medical difficulties rather than an unwillingness to continue coaching the national team.
