Keshi won’t dump Eagles for Ivory Coast – Agent

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.