Keshi resigned twice in South Africa before winning the trophy – Okpala.
Nigerians may be hearing the untold backroom details of how Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, was forced to resign twice during the African Nations cup tournament in 2013 which he eventually won.
Keshi’s assistant, Sylvanus Okpalla who revealed this said, “We faced various problems at the 2013 AFCON which forced Keshi to resign after our second group game.
“Our opponents on the pitch were not our real opponents. Our real opponents were our NFF officials. There was so much pressure right from the first match and Keshi resigned twice in South Africa.
“After the first match, they wanted to remove us but it was Amanze Ucheagbulam, who told them that it was not right. But they didn’t heed his advice.
“So, when they came to our camp after the second match, Keshi said he was leaving. Aminu Maigari (NFF president) came to insult us and at a point, Keshi couldn’t resist it and he said, “Give me my ticket, let me go back to Nigeria.” This was after we drew 1-1 with Zambia.
He came with other board members Emeka Inyama, Mike Umeh and Felix Anyansi-Agwu. They were witnesses to this development.
“It was Umeh and Anyansi-Agwu, who calmed Keshi down and told him to continue with his job. Keshi accepted and we went on to win the cup.”
On his CAS matter, Okpalla said, he was forced to approach the court. “I took the step after failing to settle with his employers amicably.”
“In April 2013 when I was sacked, I wrote a letter through the Senate President to the Chairman Senate Committee on Sports. I attached all the necessary details in the letter but I never received a reply,” Okpala said.
“I also wrote through the Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, to the Chairman House Committee on Sports. He got my letter but he never called me. He only came out to say NFF shouldn’t have sacked anybody.
“The former minister of sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, knew what was happening. He was told that my allowances were going to be slashed but he did nothing. I was in the minister’s office for five hours but he refused to see me. That was why I went to CAS,” he continued.