Former chairman of the Gombe State Football Association, Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe, has warned Nigerian football authorities against agreeing to what he described as excessive demands from Eric Chelle, the current head coach of the Super Eagles, Soccernet.ng reports.
Reports earlier this week claimed that Chelle presented 19 conditions that must be met if he is to continue leading Nigeria’s national team. The demands reportedly include a significant salary increase from €50,000 to €130,000 per month.
The development comes only weeks after Chelle guided Nigeria to a third-place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. The Malian coach had been tasked with reaching the final after Nigeria’s runners-up finish at the previous edition.
Although the team fell short of that objective, the Super Eagles impressed many observers with an attacking style of football. Nigeria scored 14 goals, the highest total in the tournament, and narrowly missed out on a place in the final after losing on penalties to hosts Morocco.
Following that campaign, both the Nigeria Football Federation and the National Sports Commission indicated their willingness to keep Chelle in charge and even explore a contract extension.
However, discussions around improved terms have now created division among football stakeholders.
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Gara-Gombe questions Chelle’s impact and ambitions
Gara-Gombe strongly criticised the reported demands, insisting that Nigeria should not feel pressured into offering a higher salary.
“I don’t think it is okay,” Gara-Gombe told The Guardian. “This man just came to Nigeria to boost his CV. I said it before that Super Eagles is too big for Chelle.
“The Super Eagles raised Chelle to the global stage not him raising the team, and he now wants to ‘blackmail' us.
“With the players Nigeria have, we are even the ones to ask a coach like Eric Chelle to pay us ‘privileged fees'.”
He also questioned speculation linking the coach with European jobs, including claims of interest from Olympique de Marseille.
“It is so obvious now that Chelle just created a phantom story around Olympique Marseilles that they were after his service, and a few days after, his ridiculous demands came. We are not fools. I read the demands, they are ridiculous.
“While at the AFCON in Morocco, Chelle started his phantom story that Algeria wanted his services and the Olympique Marseilles story followed. If he wants to go, let him go. I have not seen any impact he made on the Super Eagles.”
Gara-Gombe added: “Chelle is just lucky we are tip toeing and winning games because of the players' brilliance, not because of his impact.
“We have polished him as a coach. We have turned him into reckoning and now he wants to blackmail us. If we retain this man for this amount, Nigeria will regret it.”
Before taking charge of Nigeria, Chelle’s most prominent role was managing Mali, whom he guided to the quarter-finals of the 2023 AFCON.
He previously worked mainly with lower-division clubs in France and is now reportedly positioning himself for a possible move to FC Nantes, a side currently battling relegation in Ligue 1.
