Nigeria head coach Jose Peseiro faces a public battle to keep his job as fans are handed the chance to decide whether he should stay in charge.
The head of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, pledged to canvass supporters for opinions before taking a final decision about the Super Eagles boss.
Former Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Al Ahly coach Peseiro, who has also had spells in charge of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, officially took charge of the three-time African champions in May 2022 and his contract with the NFF expires on 30 June.
Despite Nigeria securing qualification for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), the federation has struggled previously to pay the 63-year-old’s wages, believed to be $70,000 per month.
“We have the plan to push the votes to Nigerians to hear their views and thoughts,” NFF president Gusau announced during an interview on the Gbamm! LovingFootball radio show.
“We’ve tried the foreign coaches and also the local coaches, and it seems they were having some kind of problems.
“Maybe we didn’t get it right in the area of getting the right person.
“We are surely going to push it to the public, whether we should continue with Peseiro or he should go.”
Since missing out on a place at the 2022 World Cup, Nigeria have won four and lost five games under Peseiro.
Included in those results were a 10-0 thrashing of Sao Tome and Principe and a 1-0 defeat at home to Guinea-Bissau. Last Sunday, Nigeria needed a stoppage-time winner from Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho to secure the 3-2 victory over Sierra Leone that clinched qualification for next year’s Afcon in Ivory Coast.
However, the Portuguese has been heavily criticised by local media and fans for what some deem to be poor team selections and colourless performances.
Gusau previously told BBC Sport Africa his organisation will only pick the best man for the job and nationality will not be a factor.
The previous coach, Augustine Eguavoen, also came under intense criticism after the Super Eagles were knocked out in the last 16 of the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and subsequently failed to reach last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
“Whether we are going to consider an indigenous coach, we are also going to push that to Nigerians on the phone,” Gusau added.
“The public will to tell us if they think going for a Nigerian will be best for Nigeria at the moment or we appoint another foreign coach.
“We will get their views, look at it and then we will do what we have to do as a board and come out with a decision.”
As yet, there is no firm indication of how Gusau, who took up his role in September last year, intends to carry out the poll.
