Former Super Eagles coach, Austin Eguavoen has explained the main reason he decided to quit his coaching job with the Nigeria Professional Footbal League side, Sunshine Stars.
The embittered coach, who joined the Akure based side on 25 April as head of their technical crew, said poor officiating by match official prompted his decision to call it quit after spending less than two months in charge.
The former Super Eagles defender said he decided to take Sunshine Stars coaching job because he want to give back to the society that produced him and his respect for the new man incharge of the team Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye
“I decided to give back to the country when I accepted the offer to take the NPFL Under-17 All Stars to South Africa (as head coach of the side that participated in the Gauteng Future Champions Tourney in March).
“After I returned to Nigeria with the team, I received a lot of congratulatory messages for my work in South Africa and one of those messages came from Gbenga Elegbeleye, who asked me if I’d be interested in taking charge of Sunshine Stars.
“I initially told him I was not interested but he’s a man I respect, as he has managed sports with distinction at the highest level, so I eventually agreed to take up the offer,” Eguavoen said.
The tactician claimed that questionable refereeing decisions in those matches, as well as some during his side’s 1-0 reverse to Shooting Stars in Ibadan on 4 June, forced his hand as regards his eventual decision to quit.
“Against Lobi Stars, we (Sunshine Stars) scored a good goal which was disallowed.
“Against Shooting Stars, we scored a good equalizer which was again disallowed.
“I was not happy and in our next game against Plateau United, another injustice happened when a player from the Plateau team scored a goal with his hand and it was accepted.
“Afterwards, I spoke to the referee and the match commissioner and asked them to tell me how many ex-footballers from the Super Eagles class of 1994 (who are coaches) are involved in the league in terms of coaching.
“I was advised by some of my ex-teammates not to take up the offer to return to coaching in the NPFL but I insisted as I wanted to give back to my country.
“However, after just a few weeks, I have realised that it is hard to change things because there are few people in the league who are making it difficult for the league to grow.
“Some people say I have a reputation of not staying long in a particular club but I am an authority in this game and have a name to protect so quitting was the best option in this case,” he concluded.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
