Mansur blames sports commissioner for his sack at Sokoto Utd

Mansur blames sports commissioner for his sack at Sokoto Utd

By Vincent Akinbami

Sacked coach of Sokoto United, Mansur Abdullahi has revealed the reason behind his initial suspension before his eventual sack.

According to Mansur , the attitude of the Commissioner for Sport was highly unprofessional and he resisted it.

"The commissioner was trying to force players on me for matches. He wanted the indigenes to play league matches not caring if they merited it or not. I went through a lot, with many bad players, I was able to manage with the few good ones to get promotion for the play off, he claimed.

Coach Mansur added: "He talk to the boys directly, he want the indigenes to play regularly, there was a time he wanted to pick the first eleven for a match but I resisted.

"My contact in the team was angry, a professor who is a brother to the governor was not also happy with the suspension. A lot of people were angry with the way he was trying to interfere in the management of the squad. I went through a lot to pick the Super 8 ticket. If I was not an experienced coach, there was no way I would have picked the Super 8 ticket. I had resolved to pick the Premier League ticket before I was forced out," he said.

Mansur said this is not the first time he is promotiong a team to the Premier League. "I was an assistant coach in Plateau United and we got promotion to the Premier League in 2015. In 2006, I promoted Olga Queens to Nigeria Women Premier League. I have worked with Supreme Court, Warri Wolves, Bayelsa Queens, Delta Force and the Super Falcons under Uche Eucheria.
"I was one of the coaches that started the first Future Eagles under 13, that was the team that produced the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho, Sali Baba that later captained under 17 that won the World Cup with Garba Manu in Dubai."

The embittered coach urged the league board and NFF to look into arbitrary sacking of coaches and the abortion of their contracts to ensure a truly professional system.