When Rohr was in command of the Super Eagles under the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board, there was an intriguing episode involving him and the Nigerian Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare.
Rohr revealed that the Minister of Sports unexpectedly showed up at one of the team’s training sessions accompanied by a group of journalists.
This visit seemed to catch Rohr off guard, and he mentioned that his assistant warned him about the potential consequences if he refused to allow the Sports Minister to join the training: “Two years ago in Nigeria, the sports minister suddenly showed up with 40 or 50 journalists at training and wanted to play along. I was perplexed. My assistant said we have to let him join us, or we’ll all be gone tomorrow. Without further ado, we added a circle game for him, and everything was fine.”
Unfortunately, Rohr’s tenure as the coach of the Super Eagles came to an end just a month before the start of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. He was subsequently replaced by former Nigerian international Austin Eguavoen. Under Eguavoen’s guidance, the team faced Ghana in the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs but was unsuccessful in their bid to qualify for the tournament in Qatar.
Gernot Rohr on sports minister, Sunday Dare: "Two years ago in Nigeria, suddenly he showed up for training with 40 or 50 journalists and wanted to participate. I was perplexed. My assistant told me that we had to let him participate. Otherwise, we would all leave the next day." pic.twitter.com/QNz5JZxq5c
— Bolarinwa Olajide (@iambolar) June 29, 2023
