Thomas Dennerby: Sports Minister Dare Intervenes To Forestall Swede’s Shock Resignation

Minister of Sports Sunday Dare has waded into the controversy surrounding Thomas Dennerby’s shocking resignation as head coach of the Super Falcons.

Unconfirmed reports had suggested that the 60-year old Swede had threatened to resign his position as head coach of Nigeria’s senior women’s team over several issues that have boiled over in recent weeks.

The former head coach of Sweden’s women’s team was reportedly fed up of unfulfilled promises by the Nigeria Football Federation and alleged interference in his team’s selection.

A particular sore point in his time as head coach of the nine-time African champions was his relationship with NFF head of women football Ruth David which has allegedly reached a breaking point and precipitated his decision to hand in his resignation.

However, in a message on microblogging site Twitter, Minister of Sports Sunday Dare revealed that he will intervene to ensure Dennerby who was appointed to his role in 2018 continues as head coach of the Super Falcons.

“I have personally stepped into the matter of Thomas Dennerby, the Coach of Super Falcons. I received a brief this morning and will proceed to seek a quick resolution to ensure he continues to Coach Nigeria’s female team,” Dare tweeted on Monday.

However, in an interview with noted journalist Mitchell Obi on his radio programme, Sports Salsa, monitored in Lagos, 2nd-Vice President of the NFF Shehu Dikko confirmed that the Federation’s lawyers were in conversation with the Swede’s representatives in a bid to resolve their differences.

Dikko told the programme that in the event their differences proved irreconcilable, a provision exists in Dennerby’s contract allowing for a mutual termination of the deal could be activated.

Dare later indicated in a follow up tweet that he had spoken with both Dennerby and the leadership of the NFF and was working to ensure an amicable resolution to the current standoff.

Dennerby joined the Super Falcons in 2018 and won the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and led the team to a place in the knockout round of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time since 1999.

His last match in charge of the Super Falcons was a 1-0 win over Algeria in a Tokyo 2020 Qualifier at the Agege Stadium in Lagos.