Stephen Keshi will not be the replacement for Herve Renard as Ivory Coast coach, the Super Eagles coach’s agent Emmanuel Ado has said.
Keshi was named as 20th in a list of 59 coaches who applied for the Elephants job by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football last week. But Ado says Keshi is committed to seeing through his two-year contract, which he signed with the Nigeria Football Federation in April.
Keshi is one of two Africans on the list. The other is Ivoirian Yelato Silue.
Renard left the reigning African champions for Ligue 1 side, Lille, last month, and Ivory Coast have yet to get a substantive coach.
Ado described the reports on the published list as distractions for Keshi, insisting they were by “enemies of peace”.
“My client is very happy with his job as Head Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria. He has a two-year contract with the Nigeria Football Federation. As a professional, he will see out his contract,” Ado wrote on his Facebook wall.
“My client feels highly honoured to be shortlisted by Ivory Coast – a great footballing country. Like you all know, he has a very good relationship with Ivory Coast since his playing days. It is a relationship that he cherishes and will continue to cherish all the days of his life.
“We want to use this opportunity to call on all stakeholders, and indeed all Nigerians, to deny enemies of peace the chance they are looking for to cause distractions. We don’t need these distractions.”
But while the FIF said on its website that only coaches who applied for the post were named, Ado could not clarify if Keshi applied for the job or not.
Meanwhile, the NFF has said it will investigate if Keshi actually applied for the job.
“The NFF will open a full investigation to determine whether Mr. Stephen Keshi actually applied for the vacant Ivory Coast job,” NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire told BBC Sport.
“There will be no hasty decision. We hope to get a full part from the Ivory Coast football federation before making an official statement.”
Keshi had a turbulent relationship with the NFF before he was given a new contract in April. He failed to have his contract renewed at the end of the 2014 World Cup, and was given a match-by-match deal as Nigeria sought ticket for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. (Punch)
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