By Emma Jemegah
The founder and President of the Football Coaches Association of Africa Nations (FCAAN), Dr Terry Eguaoje has disclosed that his organization was dedicated to providing the best coaching courses to football coaches in Africa as precursor to ending the over reliance on foreign coaches for the various national teams.
At a media parley in Lagos, yesterday, Dr Eguaoje, a certified coaches’ instructor, said FCAAN is out to ensure Nigeria and other African nations rely wholly on indigenous coaches, asserting that African coaches are equal in competence with their foreign counterparts, giving the good environment like their colleagues from Europe.
“I am on a mission to ensure local coaches are given equal opportunities like their foreign counterparts. In Nigeria and other African countries, the foreign coaches are treated like semi-god but from records, no foreign coach has won the World Cup.
“The problem is, how environment is very toxic. Some clubs chairmen put a lot of pressure on the local coaches thereby making the environment not too conducive for the Nigerian coaches. Every coach deserves respect, if we hire a competent coach, let him fail and grow on the job but we are too impatient,” he said.
The FCAAN president said his programme is not different from that of CAF and EUFA, stressing that the difference is just in name. “I design the courses coaches take in CAF and it’s not different from those being offered by FCAAN. We’re concern in bringing out quality coaches.”
“I started in the USA in 2000 and I’ve resolved to come home every year to help upgrade the standard of our coaches. Already, I’ve about 45,000 registered members. I’ve partnership with Baker University and the idea is for the coaches to enjoy good curriculum obtainable anywhere in the world,” he said.