Sacked coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says the decision of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to replace the media officer of the team Toyin Ibitoye had a negative impact on the team.
Ibitoye was replaced as media officer by Babafemi Raji just before the start of the qualifiers for the Africa Cup Of Nations as well as that of the 2022 World Cup. Nigeria secure qualification for both tournaments with ease.
While speaking on the relationship he had with his backroom staff during a chat with Colin Udoh via his Twitter space, the coach reserved special praises for Ibitoye saying he made his job easy with the way he handled the media.
“We had a very good relationship with the media, the time we had with Toyin. Toyin was our media man but he had to leave. It was a big loss for the team because this man did a very good job and everything was becoming more difficult after he left”, the coach said.
“To explain what we are doing and how we are playing is not my job. This is the job of journalists, the media people. My job is to explain to my team, to my players, and not to the fans and that unfortunately we didn’t have this support like it would have been necessary without Toyin.”