Aghahowa: Why I Am Not Interested In Coaching

Several former Nigerian internationals have moved into coaching after hanging their boots, but former Shakhtar Donetsk star Julius Aghahowa has revealed why he will not be following their footsteps.

Ex-Wigan Athletic striker Aghahowa has disclosed that he didn’t venture into coaching after quitting football because of the poor treatment of coaches in the country.

Since the turn of the millennium, the Super Eagles have been handled by a few ex-internationals including Austin Eguavon, Samson Siasia, Sunday Oliseh, Shuaibu Amodu, and Stephen Keshi.

Many of them made key impacts during their time, with Keshi especially leading the Super Eagles to their third African crown at the 2013 AFCON tournament in South Africa.

Most of them, however, left their posts having complained of being owed a backlog of unpaid salaries at one point or another.

Two of those coaches – Amodu and Keshi – both died in 2016 after suffering similar treatment.

And Aghahowa, 38, has disclosed that their fate discouraged him from going into management.

“First of all, I’ll say it’s not compulsory that after your football career you must be a coach, ” Aghahowa told AOI.

“Looking at how some of my senior colleagues were treated during their time as coaches, that’s enough to discourage me from wanting to be a coach. Some of them were even owed until they died. May their souls rest In peace.

“Look at what is happening in the league. Is it the players that are hungry that you’ll go and coach? Even the coaches demand money from players before they’re given a chance to play, mind you most footballers are from poor homes and the hunger to succeed is very high because of where they are coming from. I am talking from experience.

“As for the football business, not too long ago I got licensed by the Nigerian Football Federation as an intermediary agent, and I work with a lot of other agents to scout young talents across the country,” Aghahowa concluded.