Tag: finidi George
Finidi George Lands New Coaching Job
Nigeria’s sports minister, John Enoh, has addressed Napoli striker Victor Osimhen’s recent social media criticism of former Super Eagles coach Finidi George for the first time.
Earlier this month, it was alleged that Finidi George questioned Osimhen’s commitment to the squad after he had missed the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and the Benin Republic.
Finidi was alleged to have faulted the commitment of some players before picking out Osimhen for making himself unavailable.
He was quoted to have said he can’t beg Osimhen to play for the national team after the player withdrew from their last two 2026 World Cup qualifiers due to injury.
Reacting to the comments attributed to Finidi, Osimhen claimed he reached out to Finidi about his injury, and had wanted to fly down to be with the players in camp which the former coach declined.
He said, “I knew things like these would happen and that’s why I have the videos and screenshots of when I called Finidi while I was with the doctor in Germany.
“I got injured in our (Napoli’s) last game against Lecce and I went to the MRI scan. And I called Finidi there for him to listen to the doctor too.
“I asked Finidi George to allow me stay with the players in the camp, but Finidi asked me not to bother that I should stay with my family.
“I’m not addressing anything, everybody knows I play my heart out whenever I’m playing for the club or national team. I’ll share the screenshot and videos of my conversation with Finidi for the sake of those believing what Finidi said.
“I’ve lost respect for that man because before I disrespect anybody, I always respect them.
Since the outburst, Osimhen has refused to apologise even after it was denied that Finidi didn’t make such comments about him
Speaking with Eagle7 FM Radio, The Sports Minister addressed the outburst for the time, saying he’s ordered the NFF not to make a pronouncement on the matter until they have heard from Osimhen.
“There has been a plethora of opinions on this,”he said. “Osimhen is a Trojan for Nigeria, but it was a low.
“I told the NFF not to make a pronouncement on this before they have engaged Osimhen. This is so especially because these are not the best of times for Nigeria football and we have to manage a lot of things.
“The NFF have to be focused and not be distracted.”
NFF Accepts Finidi’s Resignation
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has officially accepted the resignation of the head coach of the Super Eagles, Finidi George.
The decision came after an initial hesitation due to procedural issues with the resignation letter, which was reportedly unsigned at first.
The resignation process faced a hiccup when Finidi George’s initial resignation letter was found to be unsigned, leading to delays in its acceptance by the NFF.
However, the matter was promptly resolved as the letter was subsequently signed and made available to all members of the executive committee.
The official acceptance of his resignation was confirmed following the Sallah holidays, as reported by ScoreNigeria.com.
Finidi decided to step down following the NFF’s decision to appoint a foreign technical adviser to oversee his work.
In his resignation letter addressed to NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, Finidi expressed his concerns about the changes to the technical crew, which included several appointments made without his input.
He stated that under these circumstances, he preferred to resign from his position.
With Finidi’s departure, the NFF is now faced with the task of finding a suitable replacement before the commencement of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers, which are set to begin in the first week of September.
Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen, has taken a swipe at Finidi George, who has resigned as the head coach of Nigeria.
It is claimed that Finidi accused Osimhen of pulling out of games for the national team with minor injuries.
Osimhen, who netted 15 goals for Napoli in Serie A this season, claims he suffered an ankle injury against Lecce on May 25.
And although he was planning to travel to the Super Eagles camp ahead of their two 2026 World Cup qualifiers, he was told not to by Finidi.
In an Instagram Live video, Osimhen said he would not accept disrespect and opened up on why he was not taking part in the World Cup Qualifiers.
He said;
: “I won’t let anyone believe anything about me.
“I don’t just address anything, everybody knows when I play for Nigeria I play my heart out, I just let everything go.
“But I won’t take disrespect from anybody
“I’ll share the screenshot and videos of my conversation with Finidi for the sake of those believing what Finidi said.
“I’ve lost respect for that man because before I disrespect anybody, I always respect them.”
Finidi George has reportedly tendered his resignation from the role of head coach of the Nigerian football team, Super Eagles.
Popular sports news reporter, Toyin Ibitoye, disclosed this on X some minutes ago.
‘’News just in Finidi George @FinidiGeorge_FG has resigned from his @NGSuperEagles manager position”
Finidi, a former Nigerian international and member of the iconic 1994 Super Eagles squad that won the nation’s second African Cup of Nations title, took over as head coach last month.
His resignation comes days after the NFF disclosed it is in search of a foreign Technical Adviser following a poor run in the WCQ.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) or Finidi George have yet to confirm his resignation.