May 09, (THEWILL) –Â FIFA has ordered the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to pay former coach, Gernot Rohr, just under $380,000 in compensation after his contract was terminated prematurely.
Rohr was fired as Super Eagles coach in December, just four weeks before the postponed TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations took off in Cameroon. He had been in charge since August 2016.
The NFF agreed to pay Rohr’s salary until the conclusion of his contract, which runs to December 2022, but the Franco-German went to FIFA to claim an additional fee for contract breach without cause.
The 68-year-old had asked for £1 million, but a FIFA panel ruled his claim was “partially accepted insofar as it is admissible” and awarded him $377,879.46.
The FIFA players’ status chamber further stated that if Rohr was not paid in full within 45 days, the NFF would be sanctioned.
The text of the decision read: “If full payment (including all applicable interest) is not made within 45 days of notification of this decision, the respondent [the NFF] shall be imposed a restriction on receiving a percentage of development funding, up until the due amounts are paid.”
The NFF, which is about to name another foreign coach for the Super Eagles, will not challenge the judgement because the amount mentioned is exactly what the German coach was entitled for the duration of his contract through December of this year.
FIFA’s decision to award Rohr compensation comes after the NFF was fined $154,000 for crowd disturbance following their tie with the Black Stars, ensuring that Nigeria’s Super Eagles will not compete in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
